"Caitlin, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
Cynthia looked at Caitlin with a complicated expression, but her voice stayed calm and level, as rational as ever.
"…"
Caitlin said nothing.
Watching that silence, even Kukui and the others could tell the truth immediately: whatever the connection between Cynthia and Caitlin was, it wasn't casual. And they certainly weren't stupid.
"Boss, should we pull back for now?" Proton stepped up beside Damian and lowered his voice.
He could feel the situation turning messy. Cynthia was Sinnoh's Champion, and her true strength was still an unknown.
But judging by the pressure coming off that Garchomp, one thing was obvious: Cynthia was definitely stronger than Kukui.
And on top of that, Cynthia and Caitlin clearly knew each other. That made it even harder to handle.
What if Cynthia got through to Caitlin—and Caitlin defected from Team Rocket?
To be honest, for both professional and personal reasons, Proton didn't want Caitlin to betray the organization.
Caitlin usually treated people with polite restraint. She kept the right distance without coming off cold, managing relationships with a kind of quiet precision.
Proton actually liked working with someone like that. In an organization like Team Rocket, being overly familiar wasn't always a good thing. A colleague who kept boundaries but was easy to coordinate with was the best kind of colleague.
More importantly, Caitlin's talent and potential were outstanding, and her abilities were genuinely frightening. Even purely from the organization's perspective, keeping Caitlin in Team Rocket was the best outcome.
"No rush," Damian said, waving Proton off without looking away. "Let's watch a little longer."
Whether it was his interest in seeing how the drama played out, or something more practical, Damian genuinely wanted to see what Caitlin was thinking now that she was face-to-face with someone she used to be close to.
"Caitlin."
When Caitlin still didn't speak, Cynthia called her name again.
Cynthia knew Caitlin. On the surface, she always looked composed and high-class—but inside, she was proud and sensitive. So Cynthia didn't press with a harsh tone.
"Cynthia. Long time no see."
Caitlin finally broke the silence. She offered Cynthia a faint smile, controlled and measured.
"I really didn't expect to see you here."
"You should know why I'm here," Cynthia said, lips tightening.
Even in a moment like this, Cynthia's voice stayed steady.
"Did you really join Team Rocket?"
"Does that matter?" Caitlin asked, her tone cooling. "Or are you here to arrest me, Cynthia?"
Cynthia fell silent.
Kukui and the others didn't interrupt. They seemed to understand that, in this kind of atmosphere, they were just background noise.
"As you can see," Caitlin said, giving Cynthia the answer she refused to soften, "I'm a Team Rocket executive now."
"Why?"
Cynthia didn't understand. She genuinely couldn't make sense of it. Things weren't supposed to go this way.
"Team Rocket is an evil organization from Kanto," Cynthia said, her tone turning heavier. "Caitlin—why would you join something like that?"
Then she took a slow breath, forcing her words into something that sounded like an offer instead of an order.
"Come back to Sinnoh with me. If this is because of something in the past—something that happened to you—I'll help you."
Cynthia truly didn't want to watch someone she'd treated like a sister sink into darkness. In her mind, Caitlin's future wasn't meant to look like this.
"Help me?" A ripple passed through Caitlin's eyes as she looked at Cynthia.
Then she smiled—thin, sharp.
"What a high-and-mighty posture you have, Cynthia."
"…"
Cynthia bit her lip.
"Cynthia, you don't understand what I want at all," Caitlin said, voice tightening. "Why are you always so sure you can fix everything?"
Caitlin lowered her head slowly. Her golden hair slipped forward, shadowing her face.
But her words came faster now—too fast to be calm.
"Yes, you're talented. You beat everyone in Sinnoh. You're Sinnoh's Champion." Caitlin's voice sharpened with each line. "You shine so brightly it's ridiculous."
"…"
Cynthia's pupils trembled slightly as Caitlin's control began to fray.
"And me?" Caitlin's laugh was bitter. "The Mistress of the Battle Castle? What a joke. A Frontier Brain who didn't even have the right to battle properly. The ability I was born with turned me into a 'monster.'"
The girl who used to speak with effortless poise now sounded like she was carving the words out of herself. She tried to rein it in—she did—but the psychic blue light still flared in her eyes, and the power inside her boiled over.
Damian was already ready to use his Viridian Power to help her calm down, but then—
Caitlin forced it down on her own.
She actually suppressed that surging psychic energy by herself.
She really could control her abilities now.
A smile touched Damian's mouth.
She truly was the person he had chosen.
"Caitlin…"
Looking at the "stranger" in front of her, Cynthia felt bitterness creep into her chest.
So this is what Caitlin has been carrying all this time…
"You don't know how I feel, Cynthia," Caitlin said, voice rougher now. "You're not like me. You haven't lived my life. You don't know what I've been through."
She looked up, eyes glinting with something hot and wounded.
"I envy you. I've always envied you, Cynthia. You've got talent, you can travel wherever you want, battle whoever you want, and soak in everyone's admiration like it belongs to you."
Cynthia's expression grew even more complicated.
"I'm not satisfied with that!" Caitlin's voice rose. "I want more. I want a better result! Why?" Her eyes reddened slightly. "Why do they get to decide my life so easily?!"
Caitlin stared at the person who had once been her closest friend, emotion breaking through the cracks she'd tried to seal.
Cynthia let out a quiet breath, then tried again—carefully, stubbornly.
"Yes, but Caitlin… that still doesn't mean you have to join Team Rocket." Cynthia's voice softened, strained at the edges. "And no matter what happened, your mother and father wouldn't want you to become this."
Cynthia didn't know the perfect thing to say. She only knew she couldn't let Caitlin keep sliding.
To Cynthia, joining an organization like Team Rocket was the definition of falling.
"This was my choice," Caitlin said, drawing in a deep breath and forcing her voice back into something colder. "It has nothing to do with them."
She was drawing a hard line. She wouldn't let her family be dragged into this.
"You don't understand me, Cynthia."
Caitlin's gaze shifted—past Cynthia, toward Damian.
Damian was the one who had understood her. The one who had backed her.
"I see." Cynthia's eyes slowly cleared, decision settling into them. "I always looked forward to the day you could stand in front of me and battle with everything you have, Caitlin."
Even for Cynthia—always rational, always controlled—emotion surged hard under her ribs. But she held it down.
"But it shouldn't be like this," she said, low.
As if sensing Cynthia's resolve, Garchomp stepped forward, slow and heavy, placing itself between Cynthia and Caitlin. Its dragon eyes locked onto Caitlin—fierce, absolute.
"Even if you hate me for the rest of your life," Cynthia said, voice deeper now, "I can't stand by and watch you sink into darkness. I have to bring you back."
She knew what it might cost. She knew Caitlin might hate her forever.
But—
Cynthia couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She wanted to pull Caitlin back into the light, instead of letting her stay trapped in the gutter with her future rotting away.
I must bring you back!