It came as no surprise when she had offered a permanent room to Cynthia, who had a tendency of jumping from one place to the next in a heartbeat, years ago – and even took it upon herself to decorate the woman's room for her in a way she hoped Cynthia would approve of. While Caitlin herself preferred more neutral colors, for Cynthia she had picked a rather dark color scheme with a more contemporary feel to it. It was a project she had been working on since the last time Cynthia had stayed, deciding that Caitlin's own taste didn't quite suit the archaeologist. Plus, it gave her a reason to decorate.

It was around midday when Gothitelle danced into Cynthia's room to inform her that a guest had arrived. Caitlin and Reuniclus had been putting fresh sheets on the bed (which were a deep bronze that went well with the rooms black and gold color scheme), wiping the beading sweat from her temple once it was done. King sized beds were fun to decorate, but Arceus was it a chore. 

“Gothitelle, please help Reuniclus finish the bed. I'll go greet our guest.” The gothic Pokemon sang her acknowledgment as she took her trainer's place at the side of the bed, pulling over the comforters that had sat idle on a chair waiting their turn.

'I wonder who it is. Coming over unannounced like this.' With a sigh, the psychic quickly checked over her appearance in a nearby mirror. If she had went down to greet someone after working up a sweat, her grandmother would've rolled over in her grave. Once satisfied she looked presentable, Caitlin left Cynthia's room and made her way downstairs. When she reached the bottom, she froze – her ears picking up movement from somewhere on the ground floor. 'They let themselves in?' Somewhat perturbed, she turned the corner and headed in the direction of the foyer; but stopped right in her tracks when her eyes met those of a very familiar someone.

“Cynthia.” Although she retained her indifferent expression, there was a certain twinkle that danced into her eyes when she called out the woman's name. Cynthia had wasted no time pulling the psychic into a hug, and Caitlin hesitated only a moment before reciprocating the gesture.

“Caitlin! It’s so good to see you! How have you been, are you well?”

To bombard her within only moments of seeing each other was very Cynthia-like, and Caitlin couldn't help find her friend’s exuberant actions somewhat endearing. Gently pushing the other woman away, she bobbed her head demurely in response to her questions. “Yes, I've been well. And you?” Silently she thrilled about unveiling the project she had been working on since Cynthia's last visit, but simply pushed the excitement aside for the moment as she guided her friend over to the lavish couches only a few steps to their right. There would be time for that later; first she wanted to hear what Cynthia had to say.

“Your home is just lovely!”

“Thank you,” with a small, yet pleased, smile, the psychic sat down and motioned for Cynthia to do the same, “I try to keep up with it; however, I tend to not get as much time here as I would like. The league demands a lot of my attention.” Tilting her head slightly, she suddenly realized that Cynthia was probably famished after her trip! Looking at the time on a nearby clock, Caitlin realized with a start that it was just about time for lunch. Having been engrossed in her project all morning, she hadn’t even realized how late it had gotten.

When her escort motioned for them to be on their way, she didn’t hesitate before falling into step with him. As they made their way to the main street leading into the heart of the city, Caitlin’s eyes flickered to the side when they passed the welcome center building – casually catching a glimpse of herself in the glass window that looked into an area filled with brochures for all the Canalave City attractions.

Because it was a relatively warm day, she had foregone her favored faux fur hat that she had a tendency to overuse in Unova. Instead, she had simply pulled her hair half up and tied it in place with a wide bow at the back of her head. The cream colored bow had been purposely picked to go with her outfit, which was a simple floral print dress that dropped to her knees. She wore a light sweater over her shoulders to stay warm, and a pair of plain, off-white flats dressed her feet. Overall, she thought she looked presentable – albeit a bit more casual than she was used to.

“So, what have you been up to since the last time we saw each other? Still an Elite Four, I’m assuming?”

The psychic dragged her attention back to her companion, tilting her head to the side slightly in order to meet his gaze.

“That’s right.” Although she appeared rather indifferent to the conversation taking place, one could tell with a measured look that the man beside her held her full attention. “The league had a busy season. I wasn’t able to sleep as much as I liked. But …” Caitlin paused as she considered her next words, “I didn’t dislike it.”

Her gaze had slipped away from his during her response in favor of peering at the path ahead, remember all the times Marshal or Iris had come barging into her room to inform her of a new challenger. At first she didn’t really know how to react to the sudden surge of challengers, especially since half the time she was the first one chosen to battle; after a while, however, she fell into a routine. It was troublesome to have her naps disturbed so often, but even if it was only to herself Caitlin couldn’t help but admit it was fun.

It took her a moment to pull herself out of her reverie and remember she wasn’t alone. Turning back to Riley, she returned the previous question.

‘I do not think this is helping.’ Forcing back the sigh that had tried to escape for the billionth time, Caitlin couldn’t help but question her decision for coming to the Iron Islands. When she had received the Metagross as a gift from her elite predecessor, the psychic knew right away that training it would be more difficult than she was used to. Perhaps it was because Metagross wasn’t a pure psychic-type like the rest of her team, or maybe they just didn’t know how to communicate with each other well. Whatever the reason, it needed to change.

And so, with determination, she had set out for the Iron Islands during her break from the league. She had heard rumors that training there was a sure way to improve the bonds with your Pokémon, and because it was the home to other steel types Caitlin was inclined to believe that the island would somehow be the key to fixing their problem.

Caitlin didn’t know how long they stood there, simply staring at each other while not knowing how to proceed, but she could imagine by the ache in her feet that it had been for quite some time. It wasn’t until she heard the approach of another that she let her gaze wander from the steel Pokémon to investigate.

The moment her eyes caught his, the first thing that came to mind was Devon Corp. It took her a moment longer to actually link the enterprise with the man before her, but when she did a look of mild recognition crossed her face. ‘He is the son … what was his name. Steven.’ The psychic inclined her head politely in response to his greeting, glancing over to the Metagross at her side when he inquired about her presence there.