The first ray of morning sunlight poured through the suite's towering window and fell across the soft carpet.
Jason felt his body being gently, rhythmically jostled.
"Jason, wake up! Sis Cynthia's been waiting ages!" Liko's sweet, girlish voice chimed at his ear.
He slowly opened his beady black eyes—Liko's face filled his view, smiling softly. She wore a white, easy-to-move-in dress; atop her dark short hair, that stubborn little ahoge still stuck up as always.
Liko baby is so pretty, Jason thought as he sat up and glanced around.
By the window, Cynthia was already dressed. Today she wore a long black dress that traced her tall, perfect figure. Golden hair draped over her shoulders, haloed by the morning light. Arms folded, she stood quietly at the glass, gazing out at the city bathed in dawn—beautiful as a painting.
Jason glanced at the clock and realized he'd slept in. "Sorry, sis Cynthia—I think I overslept."
Cynthia turned her head; something complicated flitted in her gray eyes. "It's fine," she said in her usual level tone. "We're not in a rush. You trained hard yesterday and slept so soundly—I let you rest a bit longer."
Just then, a violet blur dropped from the ceiling with a whoosh, arrowing for the just-awake Jason—Gast. She looked in a hurry, like she had something urgent to say. She opened her mouth, ready to let out her trademark "keh-keh—"
She got one syllable out.
"Keh—"
"Gast!"
"Ah?"
Two voices snapped out at once—Cynthia's with a warning edge, and Liko's with nervous alarm.
Jason blinked at Gast. The ghost froze mid-pounce; her mouth still formed the sound, but it was as if an invisible hand pinched her throat—no more voice came. Cynthia only cut her a slanted look from the corner of her eye; Liko, eyes wide and pleading, stared without blinking.
Under their twin gazes, Gast visibly shrank; the purple mist of her body drew inward and scudded to a corner, trying to erase her presence.
Jason was full of question marks. "Gast?" he asked. "What happened?"
Gast peeked once at Cynthia and Liko, then mumbled, "Noth… nothing."
Jason turned to the humans. "Okay… what did you two do to her while I was sleeping?"
"Nothing," Cynthia said first, voice as calm as ever—and deftly changed the subject. "Get ready. Iono and Nemona are probably waiting."
Liko fidgeted under Jason's inquisitive look, eyes sliding away, fingers knotting together. She'd meant to tell him what happened last night—but Cynthia got there first, neatly damming the words in her throat. Instantly the pressure lifted; Liko clapped both hands over her mouth and nodded vigorously, saying nothing.
Jason was even more baffled. He hadn't done anything—why was the vibe so weird?
In the end, faced with their united silence, he gave up probing. Both women breathed out secretly in unison—and then their gazes met and bounced away like they'd hit a switch. Heat rushed to both faces; they looked away fast and worked at calming their expressions.
They headed out. Cynthia and Liko moved in step at the front, chatting about who knew what—and studiously ignoring Jason behind them. Jason glanced from their swaying silhouettes to Gast drifting at his side, still a bit rattled; his confusion spiked.
He sidled up to her and whispered in Pokémon-only speech, "Gast, quietly—what happened? I swear they're hiding something from me."
Gast checked Cynthia's back; when the Champion didn't turn, she finally whispered, "Jason… um… you talked in your sleep last night."
"And you sleepwalked, too."
Jason blinked. "Talked? Walked? What did I do?"
Gast's look turned odd. "You got up in the middle of the night and wrapped yourself around both of them. You kept muttering you were going to 'marry them both and take them home.'"
Jason: "?"
Jason: "Impossible! No way! I'm not that kind of person!"
Gast, very earnest: "Uh… Jason, you're not a person."
Jason: "Right, right—I meant, I'm not that kind of Pokémon!"
Gast nodded solemnly. "Really! I'm not lying—you made such a racket you woke us all. Those two humans tried to move away at first, but you were like an octopus—wrapped them up and wouldn't let go. You even said, 'No one escapes Ditto-sama's clutches!' Then we realized you were sleep-talking. I wanted to wake you, but they stopped me."
She tilted her head, puzzled. "What's weird is—they struggled hard at first like they were scared, but then… they stopped. They just let you hold them and went back to sleep."
Jason could only gape. "And afterward? I didn't… do anything worse, right?"
Gast shook her head. "I don't know. Cynthia warned me very seriously not to look or talk—and I went elsewhere to sleep. But…" She frowned. "I think I heard them whispering—like, 'Not there,' and 'That's off limits too!' or something…"
By now Jason understood. No wonder the two were off—it was his sleepwalking nonsense. Last night, because they got back late and the hotel couldn't find a spare room, he'd been lazy and brought Liko straight to Cynthia's room—three on one huge bed. Who could have known this would happen?
Thankfully, both "victims" had chosen to "forget" and act like nothing had happened. Jason quietly sighed in relief.
Soon they reached the pickup point. Cynthia, too, had apparently decided to erase last night entirely. She was her usual cool, composed self—only when her eyes accidentally met Jason's did a faint pink touch her pale ears.
Liko did her best to be invisible, mostly hiding behind Cynthia and only peeking at Jason from the corner of her eye.
Since Garchomp had pulled overtime as "transport" last night, Cynthia let her rest in the Poké Ball and didn't summon her. Chairwoman Geeta had arranged everything. A black League van ferried them through the waking city toward the Zero Gate east of Medali.
The Zero Gate—the entrance to Area Zero. Massive doors sealed tight, severing the zone entirely from the world. The air hummed with solemn tension.
Two figures waited there: "Yo! Jason! My rival! You finally made it!" Nemona—energy incarnate—in her Naranja Academy tracksuit, pacing loops around the gate. Spotting them, she beamed and charged over.
Beside her, Iono was much calmer—today in a functional field jacket instead of glam Gym garb, leaning against the wall, scrolling her Rotom. She pocketed it and waved. "Miss Cynthia, Jason, Liko—you're here."
Liko's presence drew no objection; Geeta had been informed and Cynthia had vouched.
After greetings, Cynthia's gaze slid past them to the colossal doors. Her eyes burned. "When can we go in?" she asked, barely contained.
"Hold your Ponytas," Iono smiled, playing coy. "Before we enter, the Chair had me bring these."
She carefully drew three orbs from her small pack.
Tera Orbs.
Jason's eyes lit at once. He'd been wondering how to broach getting one—now Iono was handing them out.
"Miss Cynthia," Iono offered the first, "from Chairwoman Geeta. Since you're here, you must experience our signature 'Terastallization.' As for the usual qualification exam…" She winked. "For you, Champion, I think we can skip it."
Cynthia smiled and took the warm, glassy orb. "My thanks to the Chair." Strength and standing meant she had nothing to prove; as a top Trainer and scholar, a region-specific power that altered typing was irresistible.
Jason side-eyed her and snarked inwardly—Not because Mega Garchomp's speed drop stinks, so you love other regions' gimmicks more, hmm?
Iono turned to Nemona with the second. "Nemona—by the book, you'd have to pass a series of exams to earn this." Her tone turned mentorly. "But the Chair says, given your grades—and since Cynthia's getting one—we'll give you yours early too. In any case, those exams shouldn't be hard for you."
"Waaah! Awesome!" Nemona lifted her Tera Orb high and hollered at the sky, "Please thank the Chairwoman for me!"
One left. Iono turned with it toward Jason. Jason glanced at the orb, then at Liko. Surely this one was for him—not for a non-Trainer?
Geeta's the best—she even prepped a Tera Orb for a 'Pokémon Trainer' like me—
Gast zipped out from behind him and floated straight up to Iono. She eyed Cynthia's orb, then Nemona's, then pointed at the last one in Iono's hand. "Jason Jason—hurry! Use the power in that orb on me!"