82Wow. Never tried anything like this before. I'm so nervous. Which makes sense because I'm a better reviewer than I am a writer. I have no idea what this might turn into, if anything. This is a short story which takes elements from the anime and the games. My hope is that it hopefully will not suck. Here goes.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Pokémon and all characters belong to their respective owners, who don't include me.
Even on a bright and cloudless day such as this one, it's still almost impossible to see the peak of Mt. Coronet from the base of the Sinnoh Region. It's a beautiful day as most trainers go about their everyday lives. Buying groceries, practicing for Gym Battles, or trying to catch wild Pokémon. But the peak of Mt Coronet contrasts sharply with everywhere else. Even if dark clouds hadn't begun forming at this altitude, even if rain wasn't coming and going at random intervals, the scene is nothing short of chaotic. Sounds of fighting from both Human and Pokémon alike completely drowned out the distant storms.
There was a battle taking place, and at the center of the action stood a young woman with long blond hair. The woman wore an all-black trench coat/cloakthat had small knives tucked away for desperate times. Black pants with black combat boots were tight but still allowed high mobility, yet this contrasted the ornate jewelry she wore as befitting of her station. Hanging from her chest piece, just below her breasts hung a small grey teardrop-shaped jewel, matching her black earrings with small yellow lines on each. The woman in black had blonde curls that almost seemed to cover one eye, yet both of her piercing grey ones surveyed the battlefield.
The woman in black was Cynthia, the Champion of the Sinnoh Region Pokemon League. Without a doubt one of the strongest trainers in the region, it was rumored that she was one of the strongest trainers on the entire planet. Her skill and finesse in battle were simply unheard of, but much less known was her skills as a warrior. Currently, Cynthia was fighting a rather simple-looking grunt who probably should have realized that he might be outclassed before engaging her. The man wore a gray uniform with an almost completely round 'G' symbol on his chest. The mark of Team Galactic, the mark of this woman's enemy.
Team Galactic was arguably the biggest threat out of all the terrorist organizations out there. While their true motives were a mystery to the public, those with insider knowledge knew they had a vested interest in Spear Pillar, where they had set up their base. What they could be doing there could affect all of time and space.
Concentration was evident through the expression on Cynthia's face. Calm, collected, but deadly and determined as well. She was fighting the grunt in close quarters, him using some assembly line mace, while she was ducking and weaving and counterattacking with her two unique wicked looking daggers* that looked like they could cut through anything like butter.
The grunt swung wildly, but Cynthia ducked under it and countered with her daggers, ending the man's life in a matter of seconds with lethal knife strikes to his check and neck. Fighting was usually an exhilarating experience. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and Cynthia loved every bit of it. She frequently competed in martial arts tournaments in her free time. Right now, Cynthia couldn't allow herself to enjoy the experience, given what was at stake.
Cyrus and his Team Galactic were trying to recreate the universe using the power of two ancient legendary Pokémon that Cynthia knew all about. She loved the history and mythology of the world they lived in. So did Cyrus. The difference? She's didn't find herself as a complete psychopath. She knew better than to ever mess with legendary Pokemon. She had thought that was the rule of thumb for every action people take. Her Grandma used to say "Legendary Pokemon have their abilities because they are able control them. We humans do not have those abilities for the same reason, we could never control such things."
After finishing off another Galactic Grunt, she quickly risked a glance at the battlefield. It looked like the battle was slowly turning in her favor. She smiled.
'Well,' Cynthia thought, 'I guess they made the difference after all.' Cynthia was thinking of her Pokémon, who she had unleashed upon Team Galactic when their numbers were far too great. Cynthia's Pokémon were more than capable of taking care of themselves without instruction. She would never do this in a Pokémon Battle, but it was necessary here on the battlefield.
'Besides, it leaves me free to get in the fight too.' Cynthia thought as her eyes roamed the battlefield. She could see all her Pokémon, who looked like they were in no need of any help. Her Lucario was the closest, only about 35 yards away taking on a Poochyena and a Bibarel. Further, she saw Garchomp bite somethings head off, before turning around and incinerating the approaching Grunts. She felt proud but shuddered anyways, despite being used to the gruesomeness of such scene. She was no stranger to blood and death, unfortunately. There were many things she had to do as Champion that required getting her hands dirty for the safety of her people.
She continued her surveillance trying to locate the other young trainers that had come with her. She saw Barry and Lucas, back to back, shouting orders at their Pokémon. Ash, Brock, and Dawn were also back to back (to back). They each had two Pokémon out that had formed a circle around the three trainers.
'They had their Pokémon form a protective circle around them, and they each have their weapons out in case someone gets too close.' Cynthia noted, 'Smart. These kids could real-' Cynthia was brought out of her thoughts by a soothing but firm voice resounded through her head.
"Mistress, behind you," the voice spoke with a small amount of urgency, but no alarm as the speaker knew she was in no real danger. She immediately ducked and rolled forward gaining some space between them, and then turned sharply and was on her feet less than a second later, facing her newest opponent. Just another Galactic Grunt trying to get lucky. Cyrus had sent an enormous force of grunts to slow them down. Looking at the grunt, she saw its Poochyna trying to flank her from the left. With a cry of battle the grunt charged her swiping his factory-line mace horizontally at her midsection. Cynthia nimbly ducked under it, managing the athletic feat quite easily, and as she came up after the mace had passed over she jabbed her dagger into his stomach and continued upwards until she reached his chest, just as she spun around and aimed a perfectly timed strike with the other dagger straight through the Poochyna's eyes and out the side of his skull. Quickly returning to a fighting stance to prevent any surprise attacks, she quickly looked back at her allies. There was no time for her to micromanage, but she couldn't resist confirming their safety, not when it was her fault they were here to begin with.
Her eyes widened for but a second at the charging Tyranitar facing down Dawn with blood lust in its eyes. It might not be clear to any normal bystanders, but Cynthia relaxed as she could tell Dawn had the situation under control. Using quick thinking she cartwheeled to the side, leaving the Tyranitar to continue charging, only to hit nothing. Its momentum carried it forward a little, and Dawn saw her chance before the Tyranitar could gain back its momentum.
"Piplup! Use Bubblebeam now!" she said to her faithful companion. Piplup didn't need to be told twice. It reared back and with a small "lup!" it sent forth an enormous torrent of high-speed bubbles. Piplup had perfected this move and was able to increase the density in the bubbles, as such they felt more like rocks. Against a ground type like Tyranitar, this move completely demolished it. The Tyranitar gave off an angry roar as it was thrown through the air.
"Smart girl," muttered Cynthia, who had been watching the whole thing. Just then the familiar voice returned. She could go far one day.
"Mistress, someone of importance is headed your way. This being generates an aura of control, I theorize that this being is one of Team Galactic's top commanders." said the calm voice. Cynthia glanced at the direction she felt the voice coming from.
"Keep searching for Cyrus, we must end this. Every moment they get closer to their goal." Cynthia relayed.
"Yes Mistress." said the voice. "I will not be able to assist you during this time. You will be on your own."
"I understand." she muttered as she engaged a nearby grunt, finishing this one quickly as well. The voice was her Lucario. Once she discovered what 'aura' was she dove into any knowledge she could find on the subject. She just found it so interesting, how Lucario could project the life force emanating from all living things into a sphere and harness it into an incredible weapon. She did everything she could to become a master of aura, unfortunately like most people except the fabled Aura Guardians, she lacked any aptitude to control it. She couldn't use nor see aura, but she could understand it, and to her that was the next best thing.
Cynthia and her Lucario had trained a lot, eventually forming what Lucario described as an 'aura bond' due to their companionship. Cynthia had theorized that she might be able to communicate with Lucario through this bond. She traveled across the world seeking the help of powerful psychics such as the Saffron City Gym Leader, Sabrina. After much exhausting training of concentration and focus, her and Lucario were finally able to project their thoughts across this bond, should they choose too. It was almost like telepathy, except it wasn't nearly as refined. Years later, they could project thoughts to each other with no difficulty.
This proved to be extremely useful in chaotic battles such as the one they were in. They had their own unique battle style which implemented multiple variations of martial arts, which Cynthia and Lucario practiced continually. Cynthia, despite fighting enemies more than 20 yards away from Lucario, was always keeping him in her line of sight. Lucario did the same on his end, and they would use this to keep each other safe, should something slip past Lucario's senses, Cynthia would immediately warn him of the danger, and he would move to counter it. This made it so that they wouldn't be stressed out by having to focus solely on their immediate surroundings and proved the trust Cynthia shared with her Pokémon. This inadvertently had trained them to enhance their senses as they had to be aware of things a distance away while focusing on not getting cleaved in half as well. Fortunately, Cynthia and Lucario had all but mastered this. Both were highly trained fighters and advanced combat was almost instinct and muscle memory at this point.
Her attention was brought to her left as a tall grunt attacked her with a battle cry, swinging his weapon at her torso. The Sinnoh Champion was prepared, however, and nimbly dodged underneath the swing, before darting up, blade in hand, and countering by stabbing her dagger through the bottom of his chin and almost breached the top of his skull. Blood gushed out from his fatal wound, coating Cynthia's arm. She grimaced, but otherwise remained impassive. She quickly realized a body of troops was approaching her.
'This must be the one Lucario mentioned.' She thought.
Surely enough, a smug looking red-head wearing a very, very tight-looking Team Galactic uniform approached her. The uniform was obviously customized, as there was a middle portion that revealed some cleavage the wasn't on any of the grunt's uniforms, thus setting her apart. In contrast to the battlefield around her, the red-haired woman didn't have a speck of dirt on her. Not even a scratch was visible. She stopped walking around ten feet from Cynthia, who had already gotten into a battle stance.
Cynthia made sure her face was expressionless and unreadable, she was already prepared for combat.
"So, you're the champion huh?" said the smug woman, her voice light and slightly irritating on Cynthia's ears. "I'm Mars," she paused and looked Cynthia up and down before continuing. "I expected more." she said with a cocky smirk on her face.
Cynthia said nothing, kept her face unreadable, but on the inside she sighed.
'Please don't monologue, we're on a tight schedule.' Cynthia had been analyzing the eight Galactic troops that bordered Mars, much more concerned with taking on all eight at once than the thought that Mars could somehow match her.
Mars had been analyzing her as well. One look at Cynthia could tell you that she was in battle. Her trench coat/dress fusion was torn slightly in some places. There was various cuts and scratches across her body, but nothing that looked permanent. There was a vertical slash of blood on her left cheek, but most notable was her left arm, which was completely covered in blood. Although she was battered and bruised there was no evidence of fatigue. Her piercing gray eyes still held the fires of determination.
Mars made no sign of it, but this troubled her. And although she knew showing the Sinnoh Champion's lifeless body to Cyrus would earn his favor, she decided to play it safe. She would use the eight grunts at her disposal to weaken the Champion, and then she would step in and finish her off.
"Surround her." commanded Mars. Instantly they eight grunts surrounded Cynthia in a circle, weapons primed and ready to kill. Cynthia didn't move other than shifting her body weight slightly, as if she were a panther poised to strike. Her facial remained expressionless and she continued to stare directly at Mars, who visibly flinched before compensating with a forced smirk.
'It's easy to make her flinch. Maybe I can intimidate her enough so she doesn't become a threat.' While Mars had been caught up in her thoughts, Cynthia had analyzed all the grunts and weapons they held, the way they held those weapons, their battle stance, and what their attention was on. She realized that they had received more than the basic combat training the grunts had received based on the greater ease of their stances alone, signaling that they were better trained. She felt it were appropriate to guess that they served directly under Mars. She wasn't overly worried about them, although eight on one would mean she had to tread carefully and not make mistakes. Mars was the one wild card. Cynthia had no doubt that she was good at combat, as evident from the large battleaxe strapped on her back. Cynthia would have to watch her closely.
Author's Note:
The reason Cynthia is the POV character is because I haven't really seen her kick ass in a fanfic, and that's kinda my goal here. It's too hypocritical of me to say this with any ground (Cynthia doesn't actually appear like this in the show, even though that would be completely awesome), but in most fics she usually sucks and her character is way different from the anime. She's usually only there so Ash has someone to save or something, and it's been frustrating to read for months. I've only seen her a couple times where she kicks ass and it's usually good, also this has been in my head for a really long time. So what did you think? Review!
And if anyone is wondering about the aura stuff... they have it down, but aura (or life force) is measured by emotions. As long as they are in control of their emotions, they can communicate with no problems. More will be explained as you read further.
This AU's history takes from elements of both the anime(if it counts as one) and the games, but a lot of it stuff I made up to help flesh out the world. If you don't understand something, it's fine, it'll likely be explained later.
*For the designs on her daggers, look up the ebony daggers from Skyrim if you're unfamiliar. The ones with runes carved all over them. Come on, you know that's something Cynthia would have. That girl loves mythology.
This chapter would've been twice as long, but I made that Chapter 2. Thanks for reading and please review, I'd love to know your thoughts.
6/8/20- Editing this trash five/six years later. I'm going to edit all my chapters and re-upload them, as I do feel the need to finish this story. Despite the positive feedback, in the five and a half years its been, my writing has just moved beyond things like this. I'm going to finish this story for completion's sake, but I also wanted to go back and edit the chapters.
Unfortunately, I don't believe any amount of editing can make this chapter *good*, but I think I'm at least satisfied with this here. It's better than before, and at least readable. I do hope you enjoy, to anyone who actually reads this. Respect.