Chapter no.175 The Intentions of People

Fortunately, Austin hadn't had to face the problem of surfing on Squirtle. The strenuous exercise all morning, had made both of them quite hungry, and despite his attempts for the contrary, Cynthia had taken it upon herself to prepare the lunch, claiming that he had prepared the breakfast and hence it was her prerogative to make lunch. Knowing a lost battle when he saw one, the transmigrated trainer had agreed and let her do as she did.
The Sinnoh girl had been literally teleporting all over the place, preparing what was sure to be a succulent and appetizing meal. Then again, considering the amount of ingredients he had gotten for the occasion, he shouldn't have been that surprised in the first place.
"Mmmm… that was delicious." Austin claimed about the bacon. The morsels literally melted in his mouth when he had tried them. "Seriously, if you ever get tired of being Champion, you should open a restaurant."
Cynthia chortled at that. "I'm glad you liked it, Austin." She glanced at Milotic , Krabby and Squirtle who were still in the waters. "Though I must say that it wouldn't be possible without those extra additions you brought in." She paused. "Must have cost a hefty amount."
Austin shrugged. "I'll manage. Besides, you deserve it." He never noticed her going stiff all sudden as he made his comment. "I'm just happy because you are."
Cynthia beamed at him. "Thank you, Austin. It means a lot to me."
Austin just grinned.
" Austin , so did you go talk to your friends?"
In response Austin just nodded lying as he himself wasn't ready to face his friends and tell them that Raticate had a passed away.
Maybe it was cowardly of him but he wanted to ready himself before he talks to them but he had Professor Oak relay a message that he was fine so they don't get worried.
"That is one odd Nincada you have there, Austin." Cynthia pointed at the twerking Nincada who was trying to impress her Garchomp.
"Either way, I like the way they are." Austin defended.
"Yes, yes. Take their side why don't you," Cynthia barked. "You attract all kinds of oddities."
Austin just shrugged.
" So how did you meet your starter ?"
" The funny thing is that I was supposed to get a normal starter but a family friend gave me my Gible ."
She paused, wondering if she should tell him or not. Taking a decision, she continued, "you probably do not know, but to gain the allegiance of a pseudo-legendary is significant."
"What does that mean?" Austin asked, not even bothering to hide his ignorance on the subject.
Cynthia's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smile. "It means- whenever a pseudo-legendary pokémon bonds with a trainer, it is almost always…" she paused, "—a fated event. Not a matter of chance."
Austin listened to her words, before his countenance shifted to a frown. "I disagree."
Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "What?"
"I disagree. Pseudo-legendaries are powerful, and can become strong enough to stand against legendaries. A friend told me that once upon a time." Austin paused, as his tone became more nostalgic than anything else while remembering his most favourite events from the anime. Pikachu taking out Regiice , Sceptile taking out Darkrai e.t.c.
"I can agree with that, having seen the King's power, and Steven's Metagross, or even your own Garchomp in action. Pseudo-legendaries are damn powerful, and I would love to have one on my team." He looked squarely at her. "However, I do not agree that it is a fated event, while the rest is a matter of chance with other pokémon."
"But-"
"I'm sorry, Cynthia." Austin went on. "Believing in the sentiment you told me, would mean that me meeting Charmeleon back at Route 24 was a matter of chance as well. It wasn't. The same is true for each and every of my pokémon. All of my pokémon are special, in their own way, pseudo-legendary or not."
Cynthia had a searching expression on her face.
"If you say so."
"Yeah." Austin murmured.
The Sinnoh Champion parted her lips, but then paused, before making a decision. "You should know though… that not everyone will share that sentiment of yours."
Austin arched an eyebrow.
"The league." Cynthia added.
"…"
"Believe it or not, for most people in the high-up positions, especially the Elites, being a pseudo-legendary trainer means something. It will make them notice you, like they noticed me, or Steven or anyone out there that has ever tamed and gotten the pseudo-legendary's allegiance."
"Notice?"
Cynthia suppressed an urge to yell out in frustration. "Austin… when I met you back then on the cruise, it was because of well, two things. The first was your battling style—it was eerily similar to my own, and the other, well because of your unique Charmander who could do such powerful dragon type moves."
"Really?!"
Cynthia suppressed her emotions. "Yes."
"And not because you wanted to be my friend?"
It wasn't a question, just a confirmation.
"I am your friend." Cynthia reached forward to hold his hand. "I truly am, but back then, I was… interested in you because of that."
Austin didn't say anything but in his mind it made sense.
Why would the Champion of Sinnoh take an interest in some no name trainer ?
"Come now, surely you aren't that naïve to believe that people don't have any private intentions apart from just getting acquainted?"
Austin nodded. He understood it clearly.
" You better believe that, Austin. Everyone of significance that has ever demonstrated any interest in you, must have had some personal interests and intentions behind making their acquaintance, at least at the beginning. Me, Steven,or even Bill Montgomery—everyone always acts out of their own expectations, and rarely out of altruism. It's only natural."
"I guess." Austin murmured. "I just… never mind." He looked up at her. "What about you? You also have a pseudo-legendary."
"Yeah, and I was the heir of an old clan, who started out with a shiny Gible. That attracts a lot of attention."
"Like?"
Cynthia paused, wondering what to say. "Put it like this. You remember I told you about the Wataru clan?"
"From where Lance is."
"Yes, well, I had a professor who tutored me in private before I set out on my journey. He was a descendant from the Wataru clan, and it was him who gave me my shiny Gible. He only asked me to keep a promise that I have never faltered, even now."
"What was that?" Austin asked, before realizing that he had perhaps overstepped his boundaries.
Cynthia, it seemed had deduced his thoughts from his facial expression. "It's okay, I don't mind. He told me never to tame another dragon in my life as a trainer."
"Huh? Why would he tell you to do such a thing?"
Cynthia frowned. "Honestly? I do not know, but he did, and I followed that rule. I never regretted it. Garchomp and I are made for each other, and she's the only dragon I need on my team."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Cynthia's face had the quintessential nostalgic expression.
"We travelled all around Sinnoh, catching several pokémon. Within three months of my journey, I already had fifteen pokémon in my team- Meditite, Jellicent, Spiritomb, Espeon, Heracross, Pupitar, Riolu, Solrock, Staravia, Roselia, Shellos, Snover, Rhydon and a Togetic. Apart from my Gible that is, who had evolved into a Gabite." She recited out from memory.
"And here I thought that Gary was overzealous, and me, plain lucky for having caught so many pokémon."
"Sorry to break it to you, but you aren't the biggest freak in town." Cynthia quipped.
"Welḷ… that's a first." Austin chortled.
"It's actually true." Cynthia continued. "Most trainers catch a majority of their pokémon in the first couple of months, and the number dwindles down from there onwards. I only caught some four or five pokémon in my subsequent years, as I realized that it was more important to train my existing team than get more."
"I guess the same will happen to me." Austin muttered. He was slowly seeing the problems arising out of handling a large team. He had already had a large enough team, and if he managed to train them well, they would be able to bring him victory in subsequent challenges to come.
"It should." Cynthia agreed. "Though there are some morons you will find on your journey, trainers who capture a relatively decent amount of pokémon, win the badges but lose at the conferences, because they have spent their entire time poking their noses into matters they have no business with, instead of training and evolving their pokémon. Then, they just start afresh with a new region, hoping to catch newer pokémon, and repeat the entire thing."
Austin sweat dropped as he heard Cynthia essentially dissing what Ash had done in the anime.
"Let me guess, they lose again."
Cynthia arched her eyebrow. "What else did you expect?"
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[ 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡 ]
𝐎𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬-𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬.
𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜-𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐏𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐮 𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫'𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐍𝐀 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭