Been meaning to review this fic for a while now! So far, your first chapter is wonderfully written! I really enjoy your word flow so far and gosh, I am a sucker for masquerades and combined with one of my favorite poke ships? A

I'll be making my way through this fic slowly, but on a last note, thoroughly enjoyed your characterization of Steven and Cynthia!

Yo, this is beautiful. I’ve been waiting for another chapter and thankfully you uploaded it! Keep up the fantastic work! I’m looking forward to it. Keep writing!

I love it this is amazing

Oh nice, a quick update! Seems like drama's on the horizon seeing as Riley finally noticed Steve's affection for Cynthia too. Also loved how you implied lionheartshipping in the previous chapter.

Tha drama is real omg.

Hope you're staying safe and healthy! Looking forward to the next update!

So Riley is going to be Steven's love rival? Now this is really interesting esp that they are also have a nice friendship! Now I really hope that Cynthia and Steven will reconcile now!

Keep up the great work! Super excited to see what kind of background you've given to Riley and Cynthia given that she doesn't seem to remember him! Interested in the developments with Steven too!

Hello there! I recently found and read your story and it has me hooked since the first chapter! You did a fantastic job on building Steven and Cynthia's initial meeting and progressing their relationship afterwords! And this last chapter has gotten me so incredibly tense and extremely interested in what will happen next. Really looking forward to your next update!

Just when you think things might be leveling out, evening out. That last line. I swear xD

A good chapter, and I'm glad Cynthia is okay from the cave-in. Riley, too, though not completely unscathed. Their conversation is appropriately tense, and you can feel the physical tension between them as well. I guess I shouldn't be surprised with Riley's request at the end of the chapter, given the build up, which was really well done. It was a coin flip: would he say something, would he not? Would Cynthia? I think she's proven where her heart lies, though the contrast of Riley's question to how he handled a previous request for "a friend", it's a nice inclusion with his Gym Leader story vs how he's taking a chance now.

And now I am waiting on pins and needles to see how this plays out. The drama!

If this endded up with Cynthia and Riley I'll be so disappointed

These two have certainly built pointless walls between them. In Steven's case, having countless women throwing themselves at him is only part of the problem. So there he is, burning up in his own world, and there she is, seeing her world fall apart. Any more to come?

1:22

oof another chapter from you! he found out that steven is the one who made team galactic in trouble and i hope that they are okay and nice appearance from flint and riley! and steven calling cynthia then not answering made my heart sink. poor him.

Oh no! Cynthia! Ahh that got so intense, and the paragraph where the ceiling collapses is so good. It really covers how chaotic the event is and it conveys the action so well. I like how scary Cyrus is, despite how powerful Cynthia (and Flint and Riley) are. The reveal of what Steven had done was really well done, and I like that Cynthia got the news second-hand. Goodness, I hope she's okay, and knowing that Steven has no clue what has happened to her when he calls her makes it even more gut-wrenching when she doesn't pick up.

So tense! Great chapter, yet again :)

Loved the update. They did deserve some time to puzzle out their feelings. Liked that reference to Galar! I look forward to seeing the direction you take with this fanfic. Hope to be notified of the next update soon!

Ah the opening half of this chapter is wonderful, and I love the musings about Cynthia and the color black. It always does exude a sense of power for her character, but to hear she covets it because it's hiding her insecurities is a really great twist on the typical way she's portrayed.

And coming back full circle, to the lies and the masks. I love how deep the theme of this fic runs, you've done such a great job keeping it aligned with the feelings of that opening chapter, through the ups and the downs.

Then, enter Wallace. Oh gods I love the overly-exuberant extraness of that man. He's the perfect foil to Steven's gloom and doom, and even though he shows some tact when realizing how much guilt Steven has carried back with him from Sinnoh, of course he would lose his mind in realizing Steven has *admitted* something as outlandish as *liking* someone.

Steven's characterization shines here, yet again, and especially at the end. He's the kind of person that is not used to messing up, so he feels terrible that he did. But if he isn't bound and determined to fix things. It feels like an upswing of sorts, and I'm excited to see where this goes from here!