Hikikomori

her·mit noun : one that retires from society and lives in solitude.

At 22 years old Cynthia was atop of the world. She had fame, money and glory. Everyone respected her and admired her. She was what every trainer aspired to be. She had it all. Or so people thought.

To be honest, Cynthia was stuck in a slump. She was young enough to have her life ahead of her, but she felt like she was past the age to choose what to do. She was afraid that her title would be taken from her and she wouldn't have anything left.

Scared. It was weird to think that the Sinnoh Champion was scared. She was the strongest trainer and longest running champion to date, yet she was scared.

Scared of being alone. Sure she had her friends, Gardenia and all the other leaders of Sinnoh. But there was times when friends weren't enough to cure loneliness. This is probably why she immersed herself in work. She trained as vigorously as she could, that and she just loved history. Ever since she was little growing up in the Celestial Ruins she loved studying history. The pictures left behind by hundreds of generations just fascinated her. How peoples lives and crimes were all left behind. How mighty legendary pokemon created the world and protected it. It was just so marvelous to her.

Because all of the knowledge she possessed along with being champion, she was known as an archeologist of sorts to many in the field. Her love of history took her travelling a lot. She had been to Johto's ruins, Unova's Underwater temples and was planning to visit a fellow Champion, Steven Stone who was also said to be fond of archeology and history.

"Are you sure you'll be fine without me?"

"Of course Cynthia, now go on and leave. You wouldn't want to leave that hunk waiting now would you?"

"Thank you so much Gardenia. I hope you can handle Volkner and Flint. More Flint, but Volkner usually goes along with anything that hot head comes up with."

Taking the champions hands in her own the grass type trainer stared at her. "Cynthia, relax. Everything's going to be fine. Just enjoy yourself on this vacation. We all know you need it."

"You're right. Ohkay.. well then I'll be going to catch…"

Buzzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Pulling out her cellphone she turned to Gardenia, "Sorry. It looks like I'm going to have to take this."

Gardenia just sighed knowing this was not going to go as planned.

"Hello, Cynthia speaking… Professor Rowan, what a pleasant surprise… No I'm not busy."

It was at that point that Gardenia knew she had failed.

"I'm in Eterna City as well. Ohkay then, I'll stop by in a few minutes." Hanging up the phone she turned to her friend. "So looks like I'm not going to be able to go after all."

"What happened now?"

"Well there are some problems going on around Sinnoh revolving legendary Pokemon that shouldn't be here."

"Well why don't you send Roark. He's an expert as well you know?"

Dropping her stare Cynthia fidgeted with her fingers, "Well yeah…" Then with a pleading look she looked up, "but I really want to see these legendary pokemon!"

Giving the champion an exasperating look she sighed in defeat. "You know, I'm starting to think you don't even want to meet a guy."

"Ohh don't say that. I can meet a guy any day, but how many times can I see a legendary Pokemon?"

"Well knowing you, a lot of times actually."

"Ha ha ha. Look would you rather see Celebi or meet a guy?"

Giving her friend an annoyed look she finally responded, "Celebi… Fine. I'm just saying, we all want you to be happy. We cleared our schedules because you were leaving and now it's all going to waste. Flint was even planning a party at the Castle."

Heading towards the exit of the gym she was turning ready to leave. "Oh calm down. I'm sorry that…" Then as realizing what Gardenia said she turned around to face her laughing friend. "What do you mean Flint was planning a party?"

"Hahaha. You're cute Cynthia. You really need to meet a guy."

"You know what… I'm just going to leave. The Professor is waiting for me." And with that she exited the Gym heading towards the building that was a few blocks away from there.

As she entered the building she saw a legendary figure.

"Professor Oak? Is that really you?" Cynthia exclaimed walking towards one of the most famous Professors of all time.

"Your reputation follows you old chum." Spoke the younger Professor as he walked from behind Professor Oak.

"Yes, yes it does." Then turning to Cynthia, "So listen, this is really urgent, and I was sort of hoping we could solve this soon."

Noticing the seriousness of the situation she intrigued, "Yes Professor?"

"Well you see, the legendary birds of Kanto have fled and have been spotted around Sinnoh. So far people have reported seeing Articuno by Snowpoint City, Zapdos by Sunnyshore City but Moltres hasn't been spotted. I was wondering if these claims are true then Moltres could be at Mt. Coronett or maybe it didn't make the migration."

"Do you know why they migrated Professor?"

"To be honest, no. Our priority is to find them. Legendary Pokemon aren't to be messed with. They're not all are friendly like Mew. Some can be territorial like Mewtwo. We must locate the bird trio as soon as possible."

"You're right Professor. Well Roark and I will search Mt. Coronett as soon as possible."

"Thank you. I'll be staying here waiting for results."

"Found anything yet Roark?"

"Nope ma'am."

"Do you think it's even here?" She said looking towards the young gym leader.

"To be honest, no, not really." Returning his Rampardos to its pokeball he turned to the champion. "I keep a close eye on my city and me and my workers lurk around the mountains all the time searching for fossils and what not. If there was a legendary I'm sure we would have noticed."

"Yeah. I'll have to inform Professor Oak then." Mounting on Garchomp, "Well I'll see you around Roark, thanks for the help."

"No problem ma'am. Happy to help."

Parting their ways she left to inform the Professor.

"Sorry Professor. We weren't able to find any traces of Moltres around Mt. Coronet."

"I see. Well this means it's still in Kanto." Then thinking it over, "Well at least I hope it still is."

"Yes. That would seem likely. Maybe there's a reason why they fled."

"Of course! We haven't investigated the habitats maybe there's some sort of clue left behind."

"Is there anyway I could be of help?"

"Well I know it's asking a lot, but do you think you could come help us? Lance is really busy with all the other Elite Members. Lorelei retired, Agatha retired, Koga keeps leaving to help his daughter. It's just hectic. And my grandson just became Gym leader so he's still getting used to it. I know you probably have a lot of things on your plate as well but do you think you could lend me a hand?"

Mulling it over, she realized that her schedule was open for the next week or two. She had been planning on leaving to Hoenn, but going to Kanto could be fun as well. There was also the chance of spotting a legendary pokemon.

"Of course Professor." Heading towards the door to leave, "Let me just inform Gardenia and we can be ready to leave."

"Gardenia! Guess what?" The champion shouted walking in to the gym.

From the back of the gym you could hear Gardienia scream. "Back here!"

"I'm going to take that vacation after all!"

"Really? Well then you should call Steven and tell him you'll be making it after all."

"Well I'm not going to be going to Hoenn."

"You're not?" Now questioning what the young blonde was up to.

"No, you see, I'm going to be going with Professor Oak to Kanto. We're going to be looking for Moltres."

"Moltres? Kanto? Cynthia, when we cleared our schedules it was in hopes that you would get laid! Not go legendary hunting."

A tiny blush appeared on the champions face, "Well I'm going and I was really hoping you could keep an eye on Sinnoh for me."

"You know this doesn't really count as a vacation…"

"Well it's fun so I think it counts."

"You're hopeless." Heading towards the champion she embraced her in a hug. "Have fun and be safe. Don't get burned by that bird okay?"

"Hah, sure sure. No problem." Pulling away from the hug she headed towards the exit again."See you in a week or two Gardenia."

As she neared the entrance she saw Professor Oak atop of a strong looking Dragonite.

"Wow Professor, is he yours or was he lent to you?"

"He's mine. I used to be a trainer back in the day y'know."

"I'm impressed." Pulling out her pokeball and releasing her Garchomp. "Well then, are we ready to leave?"

As they soared through the skies Oak pulled in closer to the champion.

"Cynthia, is it fine if I drop you off with my grandson?" The champion gave him a quizzical look. "I just have to run home and get some papers signed before we can go check out what could have happened."

"Uhh. Yeah sure. It's fine." Air hitting her face she wondered if she should ask for details on the young man… "So Professor… What kind of guy is your grandson?"

"Oh ho ho. Cynthia, I didn't know you were looking for a companion."

Face reddening she quickly replied, "No Professor! That's not what I meant!"

"Oh Cynthia, calm down. I was just joking. I didn't think the champion could get so flustered." Cynthia's blush seemed to recede with those words. "Although you might like him. He was a champion as well, you know? He's young too, about 19. Not to you for you am I right?"

"N-no?"

"My my. This is to funny. It's been a while since I've talked with you youngsters."

"This is going to be awkward." Cynthia mumbled under her breath.

"Mmm? You said something?"

"U-uhhh. Yeah.. How did he lose his title? Or why is he a gym leader?"

'Well. To be honest, I think that's more of a personal question for him."

"I see…" as the uncomfortable silence filled the air Cynthia felt like something should be said and just said the first thing that came to mind, "Are we there yet?"

"Oh ho ho." The Professor laughed atop his Dragonite while Cynthia stared at him confused. "I'm sorry Cynthia. I'm just glad to know that the classics will never change." Again, the young champion simply stared at him. "Anyways, to answer your question, yes, we're practically here."

The professor's Dragonite took a plunge and headed towards the small town of Viridian. Seeing them plummet, Cynthia and Garchomp followed suit.

"Professor! Hold up!" As she landed, the Professor was already heading towards the gym, Dragonite in his pokeall as a good lucking guy not much younger than herself emerged from the gym. "Good girl, now come back Garchomp."

"Heya Gramps? Who's the fine looking woman you're with? You didn't go to Johto's Kimono Girls did you?"

The old Professor just gave his grandson a stern look as the Sinnoh Champion came behind him.

"Blue, how many times do I have to tell you to be nicer? You can be such a rascal sometimes."

"Calm down gramps, but honestly, who's the chick?"

Trying to sound as professional as she could, Cynthia spoke up, "I'm Cynthia, the champion of Sinnoh."

"Ohhhh." Looking at the woman up and down making Cynthia feel a bit uncomfortable, he followed up her response, " Well Sinnoh must be pretty weak losing to a girl and all." Blue turned around, and went inside his gym as Cynthia stood there hand held out and embarrassed.

"Yeah, that's my grandson…"

The Professor just followed his grandson not sure what else he could do, hoping the champion would still stay with Blue.

After getting over the initial shock of being humiliated by the young gym leader, she followed the family duo into the gym. It was a rocky gym, what seemed like mountain terrain, if Cynthia had to guess he was probably a ground type gym leader since the next gym was Rock.

"Understood Blue? I'll be right back, just keep her company and try to behave."

"Calm down gramps. She seems pretty cool." Cynthia smiled, Maybe they had just gotten off to a bad start. Things could get better from here on ou- "Even if she is old." She frowned again.

"Jesus Christ…" Oak put his palm on his face hoping his grandson could learn manners. "Oh Cynthia… you were at the door…"

"Yes… Well professor, you were going to get the papers and come back as soon as possible." She made sure to put emphasis on the soon.

"Yes. Yes! I'll be leaving now." Turning to look at his grandson he just mouthed the word, behave.

As the Professor stormed out of the gym with Dragonite's pokeball in hand Cynthia turned to see as Blue was headed to the upper left corner where there seemed to be a door that lead to an other room. She followed him and found a spacious room with two long leather couches parallel to each other, a small coffee table in the center and a plasma tv hanging on the wall. It was small but she could tell he liked to live luxurious. On the couch was Blue plopped watching tv with an Arcanine on the floor next to him.

She sat on the opposite couch of him. "Your Arcanine has a nice looking mane." It was a simple comment, but Cynthia just wanted to break the ice.

"I know." Should've seen it coming.

"I thought you would have Rock or Ground type pokemon. Never expected you to have a fire type."

"Ohh that. Is it because of the gym?"

"Yeah. It's very mountain-esque."

"Yeah, the last owner left it like that. I've been meaning to repair it, and make it more… me. You know?"

She looked at him and the rest of the room. "Yeah, I can see it."

Blue stopped channel surfing and looked at the Champion. "So you really are a champion?"

"Yes. From SInnoh."

"That's nice… I used to be champion too you know?"

"Yeah, your grandfather mentioned it."

"Ha, that old man. Yeah, it was a nice feeling while it lasted. But now I'm a gym leader. It aint to bad."

"Lance reclaimed his title?"

"Nah, it wasn't Lance." Leaning into the coffee table he pulled his finger at her, "Between you an me... I'm pretty sure I could still take him."

Cynthia was surprised. If she considered her gym leaders, maybe Volkner could be a threat, but she never considered one of them challenging her. She always thought it would be an up and coming hot shot who would take her title. She would have to be more careful.

"Hey! You still listening to me?"

Cynthia realized she had spaced out and just tried to smile it off. "Yeah, of course."

"So you think I can take him too huh? Yeah, him and his flying types. I don't need ice types, I could just use rock types. It's his less covered weakness." Finishing his sentence he leaned back on his couch and placed his feet on the coffee table.

"You seem pretty confident?"

"Well I guess I am. Heh."

As Cynthia stared at the young man in front of her she couldn't help but wonder, if he was so strong then why was he a gym leader? Who could beat him?

"So then why aren't you champion?"

His smirk faded and instead it was replaced by a warmer smile. "Well it's something I call the three Rs."

Cynthia just gave him a puzzled look.

"Responsibility." That looked like a given.

"Responsibility." What?

"And Re-"

Cynthia stopped him there. "Let me guess, responsibility?"

"No. Red."

"Red?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Well no. But how is the color red stopping you from becoming a champion?"

Cynthia being from Sinnoh didn't know that red was not just a color, but the name of a trainer.

"No… Not the color, my fri- err, rival."

"Your friend's name is Red? That's ridiculous. Who names their kid after a color?"

There was an awkward silence as Cynthia realized that she was talking to a person named Blue. It was after she realized that his name was Blue, that she realized she didn't really care. He was an ass.

"… Our parents chose our names, not us. Trust me, if I could've named myself, I would've chosen a kick ass name."

Cynthia rolled her eyes. She was only a few years older than him, yet she couldn't imagine ever being this childish. Then again, she did know Flint and he was pretty childish.

"Well then, who is this Red?" More intrigued on the trainer than the whole lack of responsibility. She could tell that some who refurbishes their office before the gym wasn't someone to responsible.

"He was my friend. We grew up together in Pallet Town. We set off on our adventure together, but somewhere along the way he got a step ahead of me and I haven't been able to catch up since. He trains vigorously, cares about his Pokemon and is responsible. He's quite the opposite of me."

"Interesting…" And it was the truth. It was interesting to see Blue, who seemed to lack manners, speak so well of someone else.

"Yeah, he's quite the chatterbox." As he said those words he giggled to himself.

Cynthia simply thought, someone who spoke more than Blue, well there had to be something wrong with this Red fellow.

Before the Sinnoh Champion could ask more Proffesor Oak walked into the gym.

"Blue? Are you in here?"

Blue stood from the couch and nodded at his Arcanine to follow. Cynthia just followed them.

"Over here gramps."

The Professor approached the two trainers a paper in his hand.

"Alright, I just had to go get my form to be able to enter Mt. Silver." That peaked Cynthia's interest. Moltres was pretty much her reason to come to Kanto.

"So anyways, Blue, I think you should go to Mt. Silver, Cytnhia you ca-"

"Excuse me." Cynthia spoke up.

"Yes Cynthia?"

"I'd like to go to Mt. Silver."

Blue looked at the Sinnoh Champion, "Why? I've been there a lot so I know my way around, you however, could get lost."

"I'm actually really good with caves and mountains. I've been to undersea ruins and ancient caves, I think I can handle a mountain."

The professor looked at the champion, "Well, if you say so." He handed her a form that granted her access to the mountain. "Then Blue you go to the Seafom Islands and I'll go to the power plant. Be careful. "

As Cynthia left the gym aboard Garchomp she couldn't help but feel excited. She was sure this decision would add another legendary event to her collection. And it would.

"Be careful!"

Cynthia smiled. She was the champion of Sinnoh, it was odd for people to tell her to be careful. As she exited the building and noticed the giant mountain she realized this wasn't an ordinary mountain.

She could hear the roars of Ursarings. She could see the snowstorm that was at the top and the sand streams that were created by what might be a Tyranitar somewhere.

"Mt. Silver…" She whispered the name like if was a living entirety and not a simple mountain.

As she climbed the mountain and walk through the caves she could see the shadows of various pokemon. She hoped she wouldn't have to battle, it would be tedious.

"GRAV!" Damn her luck. "LER!"

She turned to where the sound was coming from and sure enough there was a Graveler there ready to explode. Grabbing her pokeball from her coat she released her Spirtomb. The graveler exploded and caused a tremendous explosion that shook the cave but thankfully did nothing to Cynthia and Spirtomb who were only delayed in their journey.

One by one more pokemon came out. Golducks, Steelixes, Donphans, Ursarings and even one Tyranitar who caused problems for Cynthia, but they were still just wild pokemon.

"The pokemon are restless. Usually pokemon are territorial, but this is just insane." The champion recalled her Roserade after defeating yet again another Donphan. As she looked around the cave it was weird. She couldn't put her finger on it but the cave looked used. As if people were in and out of it a lot. Which was weird since she doubted Professor Oak would let anyone just go in here.

Finally she exited the dark cave, only to be greeted by the snowstorm outside.

"Great. " She mumbled to herself, it was a gloomy mountain, not at all what she expected. Different, but not at all what she had in mind. As her hopes of finding the legendary pokemon were disappearing she looked up to the sound of an incredible roar. There at the summit of the mountain she could see a giant flame. The pokemon was flying in the air and landed on the top of the mountain.

"Moltres." It was Moltres! The fire flying pokemon she was looking for was at the top of this mountain. With new inspiration she started heading towards the top of the mountain heading for yet another legendary figure she would meet.

As she reached the top, she grabbed on to her coat and tightened it around her. It was really cold on this mountain and she wasn't exactly dressed for winter. Her coat was somewhat thin but she sucked it up.

As she approached the peak she could see the outline of the wings of Moltres. She had only read and seen pictures of them, but they seemed different.

She stood there in front of the fire flying pokemon. Then as the approached the pokemon she realized it wasn't Moltres. It was

"Charizard?" An incredible roar was its response. In that moment she realized this pokemon was going to attack her.

The Charizard was charging at her enveloping its body in fire leaving a trail of flames behind him. Cynthia ran to the side and released her Milotic.

Milotic received the damage of the Flare Blitz with a screech. "Aqua ring!" The Milotic's body was quickly immersed in a ring of water that healed the tender pokemon. Both her pokemon and the Charizard were then buffeted by the hail. The Charizard however was receiving the recoil damage of using Flare Blitz and gave Cynthia time to wonder what a wild Charizard was doing atop Mt. Silver.

The Charizard was then enveloped in a red light and seemingly disappeared. Yellow sparks started flying and Cynthia realized this wasn't a wild Pokemon. It was a pokemon battle.

"A Pikcahu?" Realizing that it would do a thunderbolt she decided to wait for and use Mirror Coat. That would cause double damage. It was a nice little move she managed to breed for and was quite proud of it.

Pikachu ran and ran picking up speed and sparks flying everywhere. "This isn't thunderbolt." As she noticed the Pikachu envelop itself in electricity she wondered what move this was. "Quick attack?"

As the Volt Tackle hit Milotic it was to late for Cynthia to change her mind and call out a different move. Milotic once again screeched in pain and fainted.

Cynthia stared at the small Pikachu. It was incredibly strong for such a little thing. She recalled her Milotic and stared behind the electric rodent. If she stared hard enough she could see a figure of a person. So there was a trainer back there? Made sense, this Pikahchu had an uncommon move that wasn't common among other Pikachus.

She pulled out her Roserade's pokeball and sent her out. She was going to beat this Pikachu and poisoning it seemed like the fastest way.

"Roserade! Use Sludge-" Pikachu ran straight ahead and jumped in the air with a flip smashed his tail with the Roserade pushing her far back. "bomb."

Roserade recovered from the powerful iron tail and spat poisonous gas from her mouth.

Pikachu tried to dodge the sludge but before he could start running the purple goo covered him.

"Good job Roserade!" She could tell that the Pikachu was poisoned. "Now Roserade," as Cynthia turned to look at her Roserade she had a worried look on her face. Apperently the Iron Tail from Pikachu had left her paralyzed. Both once again were buffeted by the hail.

She turned to see Pikachu jumping to his trainers shoulder. Has he forfeited? This trainer didn't seem like the kind to just quit, his Pokemon were well raised.

A red light answered her unspoken question as a giant pokemon appeared in front of her. It was a Snorlax from the size of it.

She looked at the giant normal type… "This won't take to long." She smirked. Recalling her Roserade and releasing her Lucario. As the red lights finished laminating the area she noticed the Snorlax was no longer there.

"Aura Sphere!" Even if I can't see it, aura sphere never misses. Lucario was concentrating on his palms together and released a blue aura. However instead of the sphere charging towards the Snorlax the sphere headed skywards.

Cynthia looked at the sky wondering what Snorlax was doing in the air, when she noticed the roar of Charizard. The flame pokemon just shook the not very effective attack and unleashed a giant burst of flames. Lucario could only see as the fire consumed even the flakes of snow that were coming down from the sky. Cynthia had to turn away from such bright flames. For those few seconds all the cold both trainers felt was replaced by sweat from the heat.

When the attack ended Lucario was on one knee trying to stand up again, but failed and fainted. She ran to him and hugged him before returning him to his pokeball.

"Togekiss!" The normal flying type pokemon flew in the air and faced the fire flying pokemon. "Water Pulse!"

The togekiss released a burst of water that did some damage to the recuperating Charizard. "Again!"

Once again the Togekiss managed to hit the Charizard, and almost caused him to faint, but Charizard still flew in the air.

Charizard then starts to glow a red hue. The fire on his tail starts to burn even brighter. Blaze had just activated.

Once again breathing in as much as possible the flame pokemon released all his strength in a last attempt to burn the Togekiss in the air.

A screech was heard as the Togekiss was engulfed in flames and fell from the skies.

Cynthia couldn't believe both her Lucario and Togekiss could be knocked out in one hit. She stared at the sky as the smirk that appeared on Charizard slowly disappeared. The hail from the snowstorm buffeted him one to many times and the fire flying pokemon was descending, fainted as well.

The trainer across from Cynthia ran out to the field and cushioned Charizard's fall. Cynthia looked at the man, and noticed he was more of an old teenager. About 19 or 20, not much younger than her. He was wearing jeans a black shirt and a white and red button up shirt. Isn't he cold? Was her first thought. She stepped closer and looked at her Togekiss. He was in pretty bad shape. She took out her pokeball and returned the fainted pokemon. She looked down at him, since he was on his knees next to Charizard, her gray eyes met with his red eyes. She tried to say something, anything, but his snarl made her take a step back.

He returned his pokemon to his pokeball as a Pikachu wearing a cap appeared. It was the same Pikachu from before, still poisoned. The trainer took off the cap of Pikachu and stood up walking back to his original spot across from Cynthia.

Pikachu jumped forward sparks flying from his cheeks.

Cynthia realized the battle was still going and called forth on her Roserade again. Pikachu started emitting electricity from its body. Cynthia smirked and returned her bouquet pokemon and sent out Garchomp.

The thunderbolt from Pikachu would have done some damage to her Roserade but it didn't even affect her Garchomp.

Pikachu grunted as he was affected by the poison and buffeted by the hail. The trainer across from her frowned as he realized he fell for her stall. She smirked, finally she had outsmarted him. Pikachu turned and looked at his trainer, nodded once and ran back and jumped on his shoulder. Again Cynthia stared at the act. It was a peculiar to see a trainer not keep his pokemon within its pokeball.

The trainer released another pokeball and the Snorlax appeared again.

Cynthia smiled. "Brick Break!" The match was turning around for her.

The sleep loving pokemon took the punch from the dragon ground pokemon, then opened its mouth.

Cynthia and Garchomp stared at the Snorlax as out his mouth snowflakes started accumulating. Cynthia wondered what kind of move it was going to do. Then the snow and hail both combined to form a blizzard.

Garchomp roared in pain as it was hit by the super effective attack. Cynthia paled as Garchomp fainted.

"Garchomp!" She ran to her and petted her head. No dragon liked the snow, especially not Garchomp. She pulled out her pokeball and recalled her pokemon.

She looked at the Snorlax. It wasn't unusual for pokemon to faint from super effective attacks, but she thought she was on a higher level than others. Her pokemon had always trained hard, and here was this guy taking them out.

"Spirtomb!" The forbidden pokemon came out with a shrill cry. The red eyed trainer cringed, before recalling his Snorlax. Cynthia took the chance to raise her stats. "Ominous wind!"

The trainer sent out Venasaur who took the hit. The giant flower pokemon started releasing a type of powder in the air.

"Psychic!" Cynthia knew a psychic attack would do more damage on the poison type pokemon. However Spirtomb didn't do a thing.

The Venasaurs flower on its back starts glowing green. Cynthia desperately looked at her Spirtomb and noticed she was asleep. The green beams from Venasaurs back start sucking away Spirtombs energy.

"Spirtomb!" The beams continue to drain her pokemon. "Wake up!"

Finally the eyes of the Spirtomb open up.

Only to be hit vines growing from the snow. Spirtomb faints.

Cynthia stares at the Venasaur. "I don't remember the last time I was put in a corner like this!" The trainer simply raised an eyebrow.

Fully healthy thanks to Giga Drain and recuperating from Frenzy Plant. She recalls her Spirtomb and sends out her last pokemon. "Roserade…"

The bouquet pokemon tries to stand tall, but is hinder by the static from being paralyzed.

"Extrasensory!"

Venasaur was hit by the super effective attack. She expected to hear a groan, or something similar to what her pokemon yelled when they were hurt by their opponent. Instead the Venasaur stared back.

The young man recalls his Venasaur and sends out Snorlax again.

Trying to sound more confident than she actually was she shouted towards her opponent, "I won't let this end yet! This match is too much fun to let it end this easily!"

As if replying to her the normal pokemon yawns. He turns to where the attack came from and stands up. The size of the pokemon is enough to intimidate anyone. Snorlax starts charging, faster and faster. Way to fast for a pokemon of that weight.

"Dodge Roserade!" It was a last attempt, but Roserade was paralyzed and unable to move. It was hit by the powerful attack of Giga Impact.

As the trainer recalled his Snorlax, he backed away into a cave entrance that was blocked by snow. Shoving a bit snow off he walked inside and came back out with a backpack. Cynthia ran to her Roserade. She was badly injured. She returned her to her pokeball and looked up at the trainer who had just defeated her.

The young man stood in front of her, Pikachu on his shoulder apparently healed from the poisoning. He looked at her, with his piercing red eyes.

She stood up. He was about to speak, but she stopped him. She stood up with Roserade back in her Pokeball and put her finger on his lips, and leaned in to kiss him. The young man's cold demeanor faded and his cheeks matched his eye color. Cynthia however was ecstatic. This was all new to her. She didn't take chances like this. She never just hit on someone, especially not kiss someone whose name she didn't know. However, there was a first for everything, and losing to this trainer, tasting the lips of someone she didn't know, it was all so exhilarating.

She hooked her hands around his neck, Pikachu falling off of the trainer. She kissed him, however it was cold and her teeth wanted to clatter.

So her kiss ended up with her biting his lip. She tried to keep going but the young man in front of her pulled away. She stared at his face. He was looking away, shyly, cap covering his red eyes. All that was visible was his blush.

Then he simply muttered a word. "Leave."

"Huh?" No, this isn't how things were suppose to work out! You don't just go to the top of a mountain then get told to leave.

The trainer however stood there not moving, almost looking like a statue.

"B-but…" Then she remembered why she was here… "I need to see Moltres!"

That got the trainers attention, however his facial expression was a scowl. "No."

"No?" How can you just say no…

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Cynthia stared at the trainer, his blush draining away. She pulled out her cellphone…

The young man simply stared as she spoke to the phone. "Hello? Cynthia speaking." However the hail kept her from listening. She pressed the speaker button and,

"eam Rocket are responsible for this." Apparently the other party had replied to her.

"Professor? Blue? Who is this?" Cynthia tried to make out whose voice it was. The trainer simply looked at Cynthia confused.

"It's me! Blue! Wow, typical blonde." The champion simply sighed. However out of the corner of her vision she saw Red smile.

"Blue, I couldn't hear you, I'm atop Mt. Silver."

"Ohh… Did you see him?"

"Moltres? No… There's…" Looking at the trainer in front of her, now sitting criss cross on the floor petting Pikachu, she seemed a bit embarrassed to say she was beaten by him. "an obstacle in my way."

"Moltres? No! I'm talking about Red!"

"Red?" Looking down at the trainer in front of her, he simply smiled and waved. "Oh God… HE'S RED?"

"Woman don't yell at me!"

"Sorry."

"Yeah, if you see a smug bastard with a Pikachu that's Red."

In the back she could hear the professor scolding Blue. She returned her attention to "Red" who was scratching Pikachu behind the ear simply staring at her. Knowing he was Red, and she had kissed him a few moments ago, and now he was staring at her, it was… embarrassing.

"Well yeah, he's here. Anyways, what were you saying about Team Rocket?"

"Oh yeah! Team Rocket are the one's responsible for this. Me and gramps found a couple grunts laying around and they had a base somewhere near the Sevii Islands. When we got there though, apparently Red and Lorelei had cleaned up already."

She looked back down at the trainer who was now lying on the floor with Pikachu wearing his hat. This guy beat them? It was hard to believe but then she realized he had just beaten her a couple minutes ago. "Well then… What do I do now?"

"Just pass me to Red." She looked at the trainer again, "Ummm… It's Blue." The trainer stood, dropping Pikachu on the snow, and simply took the phone.

"Red are you there?"

"Mhm.."

"Is Moltres alright?"

"Mhm."

"Thanks… Chatty as ever huh?"

"Mhm."

"Whatever. We'll be there in about an hour." There was an awkward silence where Cynthia simply fidgeted with her fingers while Pikachu chewed at Red as he stared at her. "You're not even going to say bye? You're such a jerk Red. By the way, Cynthia, the girl you're with. Make sure to hit that! That blonde really needs to ge-" Red closed the phone and ended the call.

Cynthia looked at the trainer. It was embarrassing simply picturing him and what they had done a few moments ago, and now with Blue's words in the air she just wanted to leave. She took her phone back and turned to climb down the mountain but a hand grabbed on to her coat. It was Red, obviously… She turned and looked at him, her gray eyes met his red ones and he turned away.

"…Sorry." His sight was mostly the side of other mountains, however Cynthia knew she was still in his field of vision.

"About Blue? Don't worry. Hanging out with him for an hour was more than enough to know how he is." She was turning to leave when he grabbed on to her hand this time. His hand was surprisingly warm, which was weird for being atop of a cold snowing mountain.

"No… about the battle." She looked at him confused. "I thought you were Team Rocket… I judged you, and I'm sorry."

"Uhh… it's ohkay… I guess."

He turned to see her again, her long blonde hair, her gray eyes. She was stunning and it made Red feel strange. "Uhm… You wanted to see Moltres right?"

Cynthia lost all embarrassment and gave him her full attention. "Yes! That was why I came here! I love seeing legendary pokemon!"

He turned and started walking back to the cave. He turned halfway and motioned for her to follow.

Chatty gossip indeed.

As she steeped inside the cave entrance she was surprised. The cave entrance seemed small but inside was much more spacious than she expected. At the entrance an Espeon was there to greet Red, which seemed to make Pikachu jealous. Pikachu jumped at Espeon and the two started crashing at each other. Cynthia smiled, the two were fighting for their trainer's attention. It was cute, and she knew they weren't being serious, she had seen the damage Pikachu was capable of.

As they kept walking into the cave, deeper and deeper, it suddenly got brighter. Cynthia looked ahead of Red to where the light was and noticed that there a couple of feet in front of Red was one of the legendary trio, Moltres

The giant bird cawd into the cave causing the echo to hurt Cynthia's ears. Red simply walked forward and petted the bird on its beat. The blonde champion walked forward as well, Moltres being hesitant at first, but after Cynthia was next to Red, it calmed down. Cynthia couldn't believe it. The stories that this Moltres could tell. The power this bird had, it was always amazing to see such magnificent creatures.

She turned to look at Red, "You're really good with Pokemon aren't you?"

Red simply blushed at the compliment. Then he looked at her, "Your pokemon!"

At first startled by the declaration, she looked at him, "What about them?"

"They need to be cured… I can help them." Cynthia puzzled, gave him her pokeballs. She was surprised at how much she could trust someone, but if someone is willing to let a Charizard atop of him to cushion its fall the he can't possibly be a bad person.

Red took the Pokeballs and released them, all six pokemon landing in the cave. They all looked at him worry, but he looked at them and smiled. He pulled out his backpack and pulled out a yellow bag.

Intrigued, Cynthia couldn't help but ask, "What's that?"

Red looked at her and then at the pokemon. "Uhm… if you tell me who these Pokemon are… I've never seen them before."

Cynthia looked at him surprised. "Uh sure. You don't leave Kanto much?"

Red started by rubbing the contents of the bag on Lucario. "Uhm… no not really."

She smiled at him, "Well that there is Lucario, he's a fighting and steel type."

"He looked part steel."

Flashbacks of Lucario being scorched by Charizard flashed through her mind. "Yeah, that was pretty smart of your part."

"And this?" Red now rubbed Roserade.

"She's Roserade. She's a grass and poison like Venasaur." Red moved on through her whole team rubbing the contents of his bag on them and healing them all.

"So what's that?" Cynthia finally asked.

"Sacred Ash." Cynthia stared at him. Sacred Ash was an incredibly rare item that was only said to be given to those had met Ho-oh. "You met Ho-oh!"

Red looked at her, "Is that how you get this?" Putting the bag back in his backpack he turned and started leaving Moltres' space. "A kid from Johto gave it to me after I beat him. He was pretty good, but needed to train a bit more before coming here."

Cynthia simply stared at him. "Wait!" She chased him till they were closer to the entrance. She looked around and noticed he was sitting on a cot.

"Umm… I don't usually get vistors." She realized he wanted her to sit next to him on the cot.

"Ohhh. " She smiled and sat next to him. "Soo… Blue said he was your rival?"

"Yeah… He was at one point, but now we're just friends."

It was an awkward silence that surrounded the two but it was comfortable. Cynthia grew tired and leaned her head on Red unconsciously. The young man instantly froze and blushed. He looked at the woman to his right. Her hair covering her eye, the other one close. She was cute.

About half an hour later Cynthia woke up to Red asleep next to her. She blushed as she realized she had technically slept with Red. She looked to her left at him, and smiled. She had never been able to trust someone as easily as she could with him. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. This time it wasn't lust or passionate. It was tenderly.

"Red?"

"Hmmm?" The young trainer opened his eyes to see the grey one that was Cynthia's. "Cyn-Cynthia?"

"Red… I… I like you… a lot."

Red simply blushed. This didn't usually happen to him. People were more often scared or intimidated by him. However, Cynthia was different. He smiled and leaned forward and kissed her back. She smiled, he really was chatty.

"You know… Blue won't be here for about an hour…"

"Oh really?" A man of few words.