A/N Do I think I'm digging myself a huge grave by having three open projects? (AKA stories) Possibly.

Anyways, this ficlet is basically all about the Champions. But, (hope I'm not pissing off some fans) it'll be mainly centered around Cynthia and Steven. Mainly because they are my two most favorite Champions and I honestly think they could kick some major ass together. The only Champion that won't be making an appearance at all will be Wallace. Sorry, but he's my least favorite Champion (aside from Lance) and he's Champion in only one Pokemon game. Basically, I don't really like him. Sorry to all those Wallace fans out there. He's a great gym leader, but I hate him as a Champion.

I'm going to say sorry in advance for those of you who get confused easily. This fic will be part anime based and game based. I don't want to say manga based because the only chapters I have read in the Pokemon Adventures manga are the chapters for Ruby & Sapphire. I'll try my best to keep somewhat of a consistency in plot however.

Character List:

Cynthia - 21 years old

Lance - 22 years old

Steven - 22 years old

-

Of a Darkness Fortold

Chapter 1: A Heavy Burden

"Stop! Hold it right there!"

It was near midnight, but the sleepy little town seem to awaken gradually as the commotion outside grew louder. Lights within the small houses lit up as the citizens, mainly elderly, opened up their front doors just a crack to get a peek at what was going on in their usually peaceful town.

An elderly woman with a hunched back stopped one of the police officers that were running past her house. In a croaking voice she asked, "What is the matter? What has happened?"

"Everything's under control ma'am. I suggest you go back into your home. You will be safer in there." He replied, ushering her back inside. Once he saw her close the door behind her, he ran to catch up with his fellow officers. He could barely see them for the night was especially dark due to there being no moon in the sky. Pressing on, he saw the thieves they were pursuing. Their neat, bobbed haircuts and their silver metallic attire struck him odd and he wondered why in the world anyone would choose to pull off a heist wearing such an eyecatching outfit. Even in the darkness, he saw their shiny clothes give off a dull light.

One of them finally turned around and took out a pokeball. "Go! Stunky!" In a flash of light, the small purple colored pokemon appeared. The pursuing policemen were stopped in their tracks when the Stunky began to growl lowly.

"Use poison gas!" The light blue haired man commanded.

The Stunky promptly opened up its mouth and a thick, purple gas began flowing out. The officers were immediately engulfed in the poisonous gas and ran around, trying to get out from it. Some of them began to retch and tear up as the gas became too much for them. The oddly dressed man zapped his Stunky back into its pokeball and ran, catching up to his fellow companion.

"Did you get them?"

"Stopped them right in their tracks." The man grinned deviously. "This is easier than what Commander Mars said it would be."

The female look-a-like of him smirked. She held the glassy orb tightly in her arms. "She will be very pleased once she finds out we've succeeded." Unknowingly to them, a figure dressed in black stepped into the middle of the road, blocking their path.

"You're not getting further than here." A strong, commandeering voice said.

The two stopped. The light blue haired man growled and shouted, "Get out of our way if you know what's best for you!" It angered them even more when the figure laughed, sounding amused. The figure got closer to them and they saw that it was a woman with knee length, curled blond hair. Black hairbands adorned her head and her black high heeled boots made a soft clacking sound as she walked closer to them. Her steely gray eyes were locked onto them and all around her was an air of confidence and determination.

Slightly shaken by this encounter, the two took a step back and both took out a pokeball.

"Go! Croagunk!"

"Go! Murkrow!"

They shouted as they threw the pokeballs. The frog-like pokemon and the bird pokemon appeared. When they saw that the woman didn't seem affected by their pokemon, the angrier they got. "We'll give you one last chance to walk away on your own! If you don't we'll-"

"You'll what? Defeat me?" The woman laughed again. "It'll take a lot more than those two to get past me!" She yelled as she took out a pokeball and threw it high up into the air. "Come on out, Garchomp!"

The dragon type pokemon let out a loud roar as it landed on the ground in front of the woman. It began to frighten the two oddly dressed characters. However, they knew an even worse future lie ahead of them if they were to fail their mission. But before they could get the courage to call out an attack, the blond haired woman ordered her pokemon to attack first.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush!"

The Garchomp kicked off the ground and immediately a blue aura surrounded it as it flew forth towards the helpless Murkrow and the Croagunk. In a powerful impact, the two pokemon flew high up into the air and fell back down with a slam. The pokemon were instantly knocked out and were unable to move.

"Damn it..." They hissed under their breath.

"Return the orb now and I'll let you two go free."

"Heh, not a chance!" The man shouted back.

"Oh? Can you still put up a decent fight? Even if you have more pokemon, you're just wasting your time."

"Wasting our time?" The woman asked incredulously, blinded by her foolishness. "The only one that's been wasting time is you! You've been wasting your time all this time!"

"What?" The blonde asked, narrowing her eyes.

The man grabbed his partner by the arm. "Stop it. We're only grunts and you're spilling out all our information to this woman!"

Just then, they were grabbed from behind and put into handcuffs. More police officers had arrived from the town and they now had the glassy orb in their possession. All the while, the light blue haired woman giggled crazily. "You've been wasting your time...you've been wasting your time..." She continuously said as if it were her mantra. Before the officers led they away, the woman turned to face the blonde.

"What is your name?" She asked.

"I believe that's none of your concern."

The woman let out another crazy laugh. "Cynthia, was it? I believe that was the name our boss mentioned before." She grinned. "Team Galactic's gonna change the world...no, the whole damned universe! And you won't be able to anything about it! Nothing at all!"

Cynthia clenched her fists tightly. She glared at them as the police officers led them back towards the town. Once they were all gone, her Garchomp came over to her. It made low growling sound that sounded more like a rough purr. She noticed it looked slightly concerned. "You did good Garchomp." Cynthia smiled as she zapped the pokemon back inside its ball. Silently she began her walk back towards Celestic Town.

She knew that the Lustrous Orb had been the target for many thieves over the years and each one had been successfully caught before any damage could be done to the orb itself or anything else. Luckily, none of the thieves that had stolen the item previously knew that its real value was not limited to riches and wealth, but something far more complex and grand.

A sudden fear struck through her body. Cynthia quickened her pace to a full out run. She arrived at the town and found it to be peaceful once more as she ran towards her grandmother's home. The lights were still on inside as Cynthia knocked on the door hurriedly. She breathed hard as her grandmother opened up the front door. She saw her like this and asked, "Cynthia...I've never seen you look like this."

"May I ask you something, grandmother?"

"Come in." She stepped aside to let the blonde inside the house. Once the door was closed, Cynthia whipped around and asked, "Did you receive any information about anyone attempting to steal the Adamant Orb?"

"What is this all of a sudden? I know you went out to stop the robbery of the Lustrous Orb earlier, but this is the first time I've seen you-" She stopped when she saw a worried look over her granddaughter's face. "Did they say something to you...?"

Cynthia sighed and sat down on a couch. "One of them told me, before she was led away by the officers, that they were planning to change the universe. I know I shouldn't take it seriously, but it's just a feeling I got after wards that made me fear for what might happen." She faced her grandmother and narrowed her gray eyes. "They sounded ridiculous at first, but it's not impossible and they are the first ones to sound as if they knew what the two orbs are capable of."

Her grandmother sat down on the couch beside her. "Even if they manage to steal the Lustrous Orb from us again, they will still need the other pieces of the puzzle in order to summon the legendaries once more."

"Tell me that you're sure the Adamant Orb is safe."

"I'm sure. You know yourself that we've separated the two orbs in case someone happened to know what to do with them."

"...The people I've met tonight looked like they were from Team Galactic. The same one that told me about the group's plans told me that we were wasting our time."

"Wasting your time? With what?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. This is why I wanted to know whether or not the Adamant Orb was safe. I feared that they already had it in their possession."

"I assure you Cynthia. The orb is safe in Hoenn. Only four people know exactly where it is: you, myself, Mr. Stone, and his son."

"They better not have hidden it in some vault. That's hardly enough to-"

"It's not in a vault. Mr. Stone has informed me that they recently moved the orb to another location. He has yet to tell me since he needs to come over in person." When she still saw the slightly worried expression on Cynthia's face, she sighed. "I know how worried you feel for the people of Sinnoh."

"Try the whole universe, grandma."

"You mustn't carry this whole burden by yourself. You even seemed troubled when I had told you months ago that I sent the Adamant Orb away to Hoenn."

"I feel as if I must protect everyone. Others look up to me grandma. Especially those in the Sinnoh region since I am the Champion. I can't help but burden myself with these responsibilities."

Her grandmother smiled. "You're very gentle and kind, Cynthia. But you can trust others to help, can't you?"

Cynthia returned the smile. "Perhaps..."

He was nearly at his wits end. "You want me to do what now...?"

"Come to Sinnoh to guard the Lake Guardians."

"And leave my position at the Indigo Plateau?"

"I know that's not an easy task, Lance, but I ask that you simply come over to Sinnoh to watch over the Lake Guardians just for a while."

The red haired Champion let out a huge sigh, trying to show the Sinnoh Champion that he was annoyed. "I understand your concern over the legendaries, but is all this really necessary? After all, you're guarding the Lustrous Orb and your grandmother sent the Adamant Orb away to Hoenn. Plus, the Lake Guardians are very elusive, are they not? I'm sure they are capable of hiding themselves from anyone who wants to harm them. The more we try to interact with them, the more harm it'll do to them."

As if she was ignoring Lance's obvious irritation, Cynthia calmly replied. "I realize this. However, it wouldn't hurt to be more cautious." Before Lance could cut her off, she added in, "You have no idea what will happen if Palkia and Dialga are to be released and if they were to be under the control of someone sinister."

Lance sighed tiredly, wondering if she had bugged the Hoenn Champion, Steven, about this matter before him. He did understand why Cynthia would be acting so paranoid about this. No Champion would want their region to be overrun by anything they couldn't stop. By failing to protect the people, it would only shame them until death. He finally agreed rather unwillingly."Fine, I'll be at Sinnoh by tomorrow." With a press of a button, he hung up on her and shoved the small pokegear into the pocket of his pants, all the while grumbling under his breath.

"I'm telling you that the orb is perfectly fine."

"You and your father better not be keeping it in a vault somewhere. That was hardly enough to stop Galactic from stealing the Lustrous Orb."

"You did manage to stop them right?" Steven asked, using a hand lens to magnify the surface of a newly found dusk stone.

"Of course."

"Then that's settled." He replied, briefly looking up from the dusk stone to the pokegear that was just a few inches away lying on top of a stack of books pertaining to rocks and caves. "You said it yourself that Team Galactic needs both the orbs in order to raise the legendaries once more. If they manage to steal the Adamant Orb," Steven quickly added in, "which they won't", before Cynthia could say anything. "You'll be guarding the Lustrous Orb. They can't finish a puzzle with a missing piece, right?" He smiled when he heard her give out a sharp huff on the other line.

"Just keep the Adamant Orb safe, Steven. Make sure your father understands this as well."

"Of course."

"When is he planning to come to Sinnoh to tell us about the new location of the orb?"

"He told me to go in his place since he's away in Kanto for some business. I expect to be there by tomorrow to inform you and your grandmother."

"Fine."

Steven paused for a while from his studies. "You sound stressed Cynthia. Maybe you should take a breather before I get there tomorrow."

"Hm." She simply answered.

The silver haired man smiled at Cynthia's unwillingness. "And don't take what Team Galactic has told you seriously. I doubt anyone will ever be able to release both Palkia and Dialga and be able to carry that great power on their shoulders."

"You never know what they're capable of." With that, the line went dead.

A/N This was just a really random thing that I came up with. I felt like writing something that wasn't romance and so here this story is. I'm still trying to grasp Lance's character so if he seems OOC to you...blegh. I'll continue this if anyone wants me to. But for now, here's just the first chapter.

By the way, "Blue" (Aka Gary) won't be shown in this story as well. So right now it's only Lance, Cynthia, and Steven. There will be more characters, but they'll most likely be minor characters.

And if anyone knows how old Lance really is, please tell me. I'm putting him down as the same age as Steven, but something's telling me he's a bit older than that.