Chapter no.173 There was an Attempt

" Pika ! "
" No , Pikachu I don't think Cynthia would like whatever that is as an apology gift ." Austin muttered, as he found himself standing in the shopping district of Birth Island, as he checked his pokedex to check his monetary finances. If what he had accounted for was correct, it should have dwindled out more than a bit, but then he supposed it was well-deserved. Then again, he had something around twenty three thousand pokedollars under his name, a grand amount to be frank.
After his lousy excuse to Cynthia, he had headed to his tent to make plans. Considering the mess he had made with his friend (his delayed realization hadn't helped matters either), it was now up to him to mend matters before things took a turn for the worse. In his excitement, he had completely ignored the needs and wishes of his friend, something that didn't sit right with him.
He had made the mess, and he would be the one to fix it.
After a somewhat early dinner, he had bribed Spiritomb into teleporting him all the way to Island. Specifically, to the shopping district. He had gone ahead and gotten himself one of the storage caskets that held more space than they had any right to—an application of the pokeball technology in the commercial world. The concept was same as that of the trainer bag packs, only that these held some special refrigeration systems pre-installed, to keep food and medicines from getting spoiled. Either way, while it charged a hefty amount, it was nicely spent. Besides, he could use the contraption from now on to store more food, restore packs and concoction ingredients—the last week with Cynthia had taught him a lot about creating medical potions either way.
It was past eight in the evening and already most people were returning to their homes, though most of the shops were still open. He had done with the first part of his secret shopping spree and as for the second part…. He would need to go to the other side of the district.
" Pika !"
" No , I am not getting you a that jumbo size Ketchup bottle."
" Pika ."
Pikachu's ears dropped down showing that Austin's words really made him sad.
On one knee , Pikachu outstretched his paw as he looked at the jumbo size Ketchup bottle like he had lost his love.
Austin rolled his eyes. "Stop procrastinating, and help me get all this stuff. We still need to visit the Pokemart, you know."
" Pika !" Pikachu jumped as he picked up a few items to help his trainer.
"Now the next thing we need is…"
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The next morning.
Cynthia got up from the bed, the alerts on her Pokenav more than enough to shed off every inch of sleepiness. Wondering what the matter was, she quickly checked up on the device. There were several messages from the Sinnoh league, especially from the Elite Four—something that she had begun associating with bad news.
Wonder what they need from me now…
The Elite had been very specific in their words. She was to be the one joining the SS. Anne along with the other Sinnoh trainers boarding the ship. The official reason was that it would allow her the opportunity to travel and make connections with the Elite of the other regions- what they had never really expected was the attack on SS. Anne and the aftermath after it. The next couple of days, Cynthia had literally run herself ragged running from one place to another, making sure that she had accounted for everything- the survivors of the event, and the dead. Doing so that gained her a lot of notice from the other Champions—especially Steven and the Elite Four of Kanto and Hoenn, something that had gone a long way in cementing her stature as a newly crowned Champion.
And now the Sinnoh Elite were getting more restless and wanted the challenges to begin immediately.
Yes, Cynthia. She told herself sardonically. Welcome to the life of a Champion.
After defeating the previous Champion on a six-on-six battle, Cynthia had been given the traditional vacation before the Champion duty began. A vacation whose first part had been spent on the ship, and taking care of the aftermath, and the second part… she had spent time training her friend. And now the Elite wanted her back to get started on the grill.
As soon as she would return to Sinnoh, she would have to answer challenges from the Elite Four as well as the Ace teams—whoever wished to formally challenge her that is- and defend her position. The maximum number of such challenges could not extend beyond fifteen, and would have to be conducted within the span of thirty days. Should she be able to maintain her position, the Elite and the Ace squad would then accept her superiority and follow her commands for the course of one year. After cementing her position, she would be liable to accept two challenges per month for the rest of her term. It was tradition, and nothing personal.
Bollocks! Cynthia cursed inwardly. Nothing personal my ass. They just don't want to accept that a little girl has stolen their grandeur.
She sighed.
The last week had been nothing like she had expected it to go. After that sudden bout of misunderstanding between her and Ash, she had resigned to simply training him to the best of her ability. After all, she owed that much to him, if not out of friendship, then out of the debt of saving her life all those times. And debts must always be paid in full.
And yet…
"What are you doing, Cynthia? Why? What are you trying to prove and why does it matter?" She asked herself aloud.
The silent tent did nothing to answer her concerns.
Sighing, she got up from her sleeping bag, getting ready for another day of training—oh, no wait- Ash had wanted to go to the city today. Maybe she could get herself an ice-cream. It always worked wonders for-
Wait.
She sniffed.
What is that smell?
She sniffed again, before the familiar (and horrifying) dark shade of smoke slowly diffused into her tent.
"…ire?" She half-mumbled, and without bothering to change her pyjamas, she searched for Milotic's pokeball, rushing out of the tent. The situation outside was something she had never expected to be.
It was a mess. There were several caskets littered all over the place, and on the top of everything, Austin was trying to prepare something. The keyword to be noted here was trying, since all he had managed to do was lose control and create a big mess, literally burning the bacon that he was trying to cook.
"…. What the hell do you think you are doing?" Cynthia screamed.
Austin turned towards her, looking like a deer in the headlights. He glanced back at the flames that had gotten out of control, at the bacon that he had managed to burn, and at the horrible mess and smoke. He glanced at Charmeleon and Pikachu whom he had delegated the task of making sure the flames stayed at an appropriate level, but the draconic pokémon had… made a mess out of it. Squirtle's water gun (despite his honourable intentions) had only spoiled matters and drenched him completely from head to toe. Thus, there he was, completely drenched, standing with a large piece of burnt, wet bacon in one hand.
He turned back towards her again.
"…"
"Well?" Cynthia demanded, her hands on her hips.
"… let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."
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[ 𝗢𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵 :
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒖𝒍𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒖𝒓 ]
𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧, 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝; 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐲𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐲.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫'𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐛 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐛 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.]