Caitlin had been in a rather unpleasant mood lately.
As for the reasons, part of it was that the days preparing for the Elite Four in Unova were simply too dull.
Basically, besides psychic control training and preparation, there were only "girl's gatherings" with the local high-society ladies.
Although back in Sinnoh, especially before her two acquaintances Cynthia and Aiden, she might occasionally act a bit willful.
When it came time to display her refined young lady temperament, she could easily pull it off!
This was the composure of a true lady!
Nowadays, Caitlin had already made quite a name for herself in Unova and met many talented trainers.
But—
Compared to her days in Sinnoh, things were indeed a bit boring!
Another quiet late night.
When no socializing was required, Caitlin's biological clock remained reversed—nighttime was still her most active period.
"So bored—lately it feels like even games aren't that fun anymore."
Sitting on her pink princess bed, Caitlin hugged her controller and let out a listless yawn.
When people are bored, they always like to let their minds wander to random things.
Especially late at night, when emo emotions run high.
Of course, Caitlin wouldn't have any negative emotions. Years of meditation training had given her emotional management skills that kept her calm and composed at all times.
But occasionally she would find herself wondering: "Speaking of which, it's been so long since I came to Unova—"
"Although I often chat with Cynthia on the Rotom Phone, how come she never mentions coming to visit me?"
"Last time I even said that when she comes to Unova, I'll introduce her to Shauntal and Elesa, but afterward that topic was never brought up again—"
"Could it be because I didn't invite her, so she felt awkward bringing it up?"
"Ugh, really, why is Cynthia always so shy!"
Sometimes, overly powerful emotional management skills had rather special effects.
For example, right now, Caitlin habitually established a premise first, then successfully reached the conclusion she wanted.
Cynthia isn't coming to find me, it must be because I didn't take the initiative!
After almost convincing herself, Caitlin immediately decided—call Cynthia!
Taking the initiative was her style!
Caitlin opened her Rotom Phone, quickly thinking for half a minute about an opening line in her mind, then finally tapped into the pinned chat interface and pressed the call button.
However, after waiting through a series of dial tones with anticipation.
The call connected.
"Hey, Cynthia!"
"—Why is it Grandma Carolina?!"
"Ohhh, I see, Cynthia went to Paldea? She left in such a hurry she didn't even take her phone?"
"Yes, Cynthia is often like that. She doesn't usually check her phone much."
"After all, she's a Champion, she probably doesn't have much time for that—"
After hanging up, Caitlin, who had been forcing a smile, had long since lost the light in her eyes.
"She actually went to Paldea—"
"Damn it, Aiden! I won't let you off!"
Caitlin nearly lost control of her suddenly surging emotions, nearly reenacting her "home demolition" routine from her Sinnoh days.
Originally, after the last Psychic Masters Tournament ended, she thought she should be able to get along well with Aiden now.
But every time I try to show you some kindness, you exclude me with Cynthia!
Even that huge matter about going to Area Zero—if I hadn't followed his account, I might not have known anything about it—
You really deserve to die, Aiden!
In her anger, the now irrational Caitlin immediately decided to call Aiden!
But after actually dialing Aiden's Rotom Phone in a fit of rage, Caitlin suddenly reacted—
Cynthia going to Paldea to find Aiden doesn't really have anything to do with me, right?
What reason do I have to question them about it?
Got it!
Caitlin recalled something that happened a few days ago.
That Blueberry Academy built with massive investment in the Unova region had imported many Terastallization-related items from Paldea, well—
Equipment, and had developed a new set of technology to freely control the Tera mechanism.
The academy principal, Cyrano, also seemed very interested in Area Zero and had specifically invited someone said to be a descendant of Heath to become a teacher.
According to official information from Paldea, Aiden should have discovered a brand new Terastallization phenomenon in Area Zero, right?
Although this matter originally had nothing to do with her, at least she now had a reasonable excuse to call him!
That's right, she definitely wasn't calling because of Cynthia—completely out of good intentions!
Sunshine Gym.
"Whose call?"
Cynthia was attracted by the ringtone and asked curiously.
"It seems—Caitlin's?"
"Oh."
Cynthia nodded.
After getting the answer, she was no longer curious, turning instead to observe the groggy, just-awakened Flutter Mane.
It was Aiden who was a bit confused.
Why would Caitlin suddenly call him?
Could it be that she knew Cynthia came to Paldea, so she specifically called to confirm the situation?
Then why not call Cynthia?
Forget it, if he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it.
Better to answer the call first.
Aiden stopped struggling with it and immediately pressed the answer button, speaking first.
"Hello—?"
A blonde-haired girl in pajamas with hair spread loosely behind her soon appeared on the Rotom Phone screen.
There was silence on the other end for a moment, then Caitlin's slightly flustered voice quickly came through.
"Hello—hello, hello? It's me, Caitlin!"
Although she immediately tried to act confident, it always gave off a feeling of lacking confidence.
Something was off!
In just an instant, Aiden's brain conjured up ten thousand possibilities.
For example, after hearing that Cynthia came to find him, she cried and threw a tantrum under her blanket, finally breaking down and calling him for an explanation?
No, no, that was too exaggerated, surely not—
Aiden shook his head, feeling it wasn't good to mock her like this in his mind, so he simply gave up thinking and directly asked: "Is something the matter?"
Seemingly not expecting him to be so direct, the originally confident Caitlin was stumped by his question, suddenly lowering her head with inexplicable guilt.
A few seconds later, she finally returned to the appearance Aiden remembered.
"Nothing, just heard you went to Area Zero a couple days ago and discovered a brand new Terastallization mechanism?"
"Yes?"
Aiden nodded, while inwardly shouting that this was the right flavor.
That's right, the Caitlin who usually looked at him with a stern face was the real one. The one from just now must not have woken up yet.
Although saying this was a bit subtle, once Caitlin put on her pouty little kitten face, he actually felt much more relieved.
Probably that feeling of "Sister, please be normal, I'm a bit scared"?
"The Blueberry Academy here in Unova will probably contact you soon. The two schools have always had cooperative relations, so they'll probably invite you over to give lectures to the students here as well?"
"Also to exchange understanding of the Terastallization mechanism. Unova is very interested in all kinds of special mechanisms and is willing to research them in depth."
"Right, if you and Cynthia come to Unova, remember to call me—"
Caitlin's words trailed off as she suddenly froze.
Because in the screen on her end, when the name "Cynthia" was mentioned, a small section of blonde hair suddenly appeared behind Aiden.
Then, Cynthia very naturally appeared behind him, resting her chin on Aiden's shoulder, looking at the camera curiously and asking: "Caitlin? Were you calling me just now?"
Caitlin was already a bit numb.
Why did it feel like she had become part of their play again—
She suddenly realized she shouldn't have made this call from the start—it was purely asking to be angered!
"Nothing, just saying that when you and Aiden have time, you should come visit Unova."
Although her hair was standing up abnormally due to background psychic powers, Caitlin's tone remained extremely calm.
"Aiden might be coming to Unova soon."
"Is that so?"
Cynthia smiled and nodded.
"I didn't notice—your relationship seems to have suddenly become much better?"
Cynthia didn't think much of it, just a bit curious—
In all their previous meetings, the relationship between Aiden and Caitlin had always been a bit tense.
Unexpectedly, they were now calling each other.
Indeed, people grow up. Former love-hate rivals might become good friends instead?
But once the words were spoken, they took on another meaning when they reached Caitlin's ears.
"Cynthia, it's not what you think!"
Seeing Caitlin suddenly become agitated, even reaching out through the screen, Aiden and Cynthia looked at each other.
Both felt somewhat baffled.
"Did I say something strange just now?"
"No, Caitlin probably just thought of something strange again?"
"She's been like that since long ago."
"Strange things—what things?"
"I don't know either~"
Aiden roughly guessed, but obviously couldn't say it directly, so he could only hold back laughter and try his best to manage his expression.
"—Forget it, I'm hanging up!"
"That's it!"
Seeing the two of them forming a united front again, treating her as emotional glue, Caitlin was completely numb.
Tired, f*ck it all!
It would be best if Aiden never came to Unova his whole life, or if he did, don't come with Cynthia!
She was afraid she would eventually be angered to death by these two!
"Why did she hang up?"
"I don't know."
The call was quickly hung up by Caitlin's end, leaving Aiden feeling somewhat baffled.
However, Caitlin had always been easy to tease since long ago—basically a powder keg that would explode at a touch.
A powder keg that would literally "explode."
And he just happened to like teasing her, so how could their relationship be good after going back and forth like this—
Even Cynthia, who was a bit air-headed, would often inadvertently leave Caitlin feeling aggrieved, squatting alone in a corner feeling sad.
Honestly speaking, it was actually quite fun?
Just need to be careful not to actually light the fuse and cause Caitlin's psychic powers to go out of control.
Occasionally recalling childhood memories, a smile unconsciously appeared on Aiden's face.
However, for Blueberry Academy to approach Caitlin—
In a sense, it also showed how much they valued this exchange, right?
If he remembered correctly, the principal should be Cyrano. He had always been very interested in Terastallization.
Moreover, Unova was indeed 'new money'—particularly rich.
Even in the Pokémon world, it was hard to imagine that Unova directly cordoned off a section of sea surface and built a school mostly located in the sea near an underwater resource development factory.
The development difficulty alone was terrifying, yet they actually managed to build it.
According to the current timeline, Blueberry Academy should have only been established for a couple of years, but its educational policy dedicated to Pokémon battles probably hadn't changed.
Unlike Naranja Academy, which had insufficient funds—or "rich historical heritage" as a more high EQ way to put it—the academy's interior was directly divided into four sections simulating natural environments, called "Ecological Domes," with each area providing cutting-edge technology to control Terastallization.
One could only describe it as having money to burn.
Of course, the effects were also very obvious.
Not only locals from Unova chose to attend, but many students from other regions came due to its reputation.
For example, the siblings Carmine and Kieran from Kitakami.
And as sister schools, there were indeed many exchange activities between Blueberry Academy and Naranja Academy.
After the main story plot, players traveled to the Unova region as exchange students.
Unfortunately, the DLC only covered the Blueberry Academy portion, so there was no way to see if there were any changes in the Unova region after the Black and White plot.
Speaking of which, according to the current world line, what exactly was the situation in Unova?
Aiden was suddenly hooked by curiosity.
Just as he was preparing to open his phone and search for content related to Team Plasma—
The phone suddenly vibrated, and his Rotom Phone soon received several messages from Chairwoman Geeta.
[The preliminary medical examinations of the Paradox species have yielded results, and research on Stellarization will soon be put on the agenda.]
[You've worked hard, Aiden.]
Just as Aiden was preparing to be polite, several more messages quickly came through.
[Right, I heard Blueberry Academy is recently holding an exchange conference.]
[Consider it a vacation after the Area Zero mission. If you're interested, Aiden, you can go play with the other students.]
[Of course, if you're not interested, you can just rest well in Paldea. Work should be much lighter for the next half year.]
Indeed, Chairwoman Geeta's message had arrived as well.
Similar to what Caitlin said.
After quickly replying with "Received, received," Aiden began to think about his itinerary for the next while.
It seemed he really had nothing else to do. The tournament he had promised to team up with Cynthia for wasn't until September.
There was indeed almost an entire summer vacation free in between, and matters in Paldea had temporarily concluded. The only thing left was to send the Toilet King from Sinnoh into Area Zero.
Going to Unova didn't seem like a bad idea?
Anyway, it's just going to Blueberry Academy—being a teacher is the same wherever you go!
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