Yo, this is a Cynthia romance story foy y'all. I really don't like the way she's represented in other fics so here's my stab at creating a strong independent woman who don't need to man but who falls for one anyway. My style of romance is slow progression with decisive moments so things change very quickly. There may be some sex later on but my aim is not a smut story. So with usual disclaimers aside, enjoy.
Chapter 1:
Cynthia sighed as another stack of papers made it across her desk. Her secretary Lynn had promised that the last batch would be the last but that wasn't the case. Groaning, she slammed her head on the desk, her blonde locks of hair spewing across the wide glass surface. Ever since the team Plasma debacle in Unova the Sinnoh Champion faced an onslaught of paperwork that rivaled a Meawoths fury swipes. For whatever reason the Pokémon league tasked Sinnoh with leading the aid response after Unova's Pokémon league was badly damaged in N's attack. She had already sent Aaron and Lucian to the region to coordinate relief efforts on the ground, leaving her stuck in Sinnoh with mounds and mounds of paperwork.
She felt bad for Alder, the gentlemanly elder Champion of Unova was like a mentor to her, teaching her the nessicary requirements to run a league all those years ago when Cynthia became the regions champion. A position she thought she would become after Lucas beat her a year ago. In what came as a shock to many in the league the boy declined the offer to be the new governing Champion and promptly disappeared. The Sinnoh Champion not hearing from the enigmatic young trainer for over a year.
Having realising her wayward thoughts she sat back up, grabbed her pen and tackled the newest stack of paper brought before her. How she wished she could just incinerate the entire lot, leaving her to train or teach, anything to rid her of this plague. Working furiously for an hour she did't notice Lynn enter the office holding what appeared to be a letter.
Only snapping back to reality when her secretary cleared her throat in an audible manner she was handed a gold envelope, sealed with wax. Curious as to the sender of the letter she opened the seal, allowing her to get the letter that was neatly folded inside.
The Champion looked at her secretary as to get the identity of the sender but Lynn only shook her head, confirming that even she didn't know who the sender was. It was rare that postage made its way to the Pokémon league without any knowledge on who it is. There are stringent security measures in place regarding anything coming into the complex, be it people, Pokémon or postage. The fact that this made is past those measures wthout a sender set off some alarm bells with the Champion.
Reluctantly she opened the letter to be greeted with the most decorative script she had ever seen. The contents of the letter was even more surprising. It was a letter from the president of the Resort Area in Northern Sinnoh, the exclusive club that even her status as champion didn't grant her entry to. Having piqued her interest she read the contents of the letter. The resort area would be having their 10th anniversary next month and as a thank you she had been invited for a two-week expense paid vacation to the Island. She had heard that the area went through new management a while ago so this could be the new owners attempt at reconciliation with the Pokémon league. There was only one pass inside with her name engraved on the small metallic card.
Handing the letter to Lynn she stepped out of her office to the coffee area down the hall, pouring herself a cup she thought to the last time she had a vacation, certainly it had been before her tenure as Pokémon league Champion. She had been planning on taking one after Lucas had beaten her but the team Galactic incident meant that she couldn't afford to do that then.
While in Thought Lynn had entered the break room pouring herself a cup.
"So boss, you going or what?" asked the secretary.
"I'm tempted but what about the Unova problem, have to finish that first?" replied the Champion
"Well that last stack was the one! This time I'm sure of it, I think you've done enough and deserve to take a break, the rest of us can take it from here" came the bubbly secretary as she sipped her coffee.
"Its two weeks from now right, well then please clear my schedule Lynn, I'm taking a vacation"
II.
Cynthia stood at the steps of the entrance of the Resort area, it was a quaint place. With a main hotel building along with terracotta roofed villas dotting a pristine beach. Not wanting to be opulent she opted for a little cabana along the waterfront rather than a grand villa. The resort area had offered her any choice of accommodation but she chose something basic. It would be good to live like a normal person for a little while at least. The types of people who vacationed here were usually the obscenely wealthy or famous types so she wouldn't be mobbed here like she would taking a stroll down Jubilife. For one the place was almost deserted, with only a few patrons being spotted during her check in. It seemed like the resort was only a quarter full leaving her with ample space to stretch her legs.
Combing her hair into a simply ponytail away from her trademark flow she made every attempt to go away from her image. How many chances does a champion have to simply be one of a crowd, she was going to enjoy this for as long as she could.
Having an Idea Cynthia grabbed a pair of dark sunglasses, along with a large sunhat. Putting them on with a long light blue cardigan she made her way to a field where some kids were having some impromptu Pokémon battles. She spotted the kids after she finished checking in, it was a small clearing about half the size of a regulation stadium field but to those kids it could have been Indigo Plateau.
As she came across the children she could see a battle between a growlithe and bunneary taking place. The fire pokemon was commanded by this adorable little boy in swimwear while the bunneary belonged to a slightly older girl with a fancy dress. The battle was fairly basic with the two trainers simply shouting out attacks, not caring about strategy, tactics or anything else. It was just them and their Pokémon having a good time. The Bunneary had slight advantage using its mobility and vertical mobility to avoid the fire pokemons attacks, the boy was using a combination of ember attacks to knock out the frantically jumping pokemon but to no avail. The bunneary waited and then ended the match with a well-placed bounce.
Even the boy lost he wasn't disheartened. He held the downed growlithe in his arms stroking the fire type's fur. Cynthia watched as the kid congratulated the girl for her win and resumed to treating his pokemon.
"That's what all trainers should be like" came soft voice from beside the Champion. Snapping to the sound of the voice she saw a boy sitting on a log five feet beside her. An Aipom hanging on to his shoulder. The fact that she didn't notice him before startled the champion.
"Your right, the boy did his best and isn't angry at his Pokemon, That's the sort of attitude that takes you places" she replied to the stranger on the log. Who stat, eyes unmoving from the battlefield. The boy looked to be around 17 to 18 years old, he had messy unruly brown hair that whipped in the gentle sea breeze. He was wearing a short sleeved black shirt with a grey undershirt, with dark blue jeans. In his hands was a black fedora with a blue stripe around the stem. His Aipom was trying to grab his hat from his hands, but with every attempt to snatch it the boy deftly shuffled it away from the appendages of the prying creature.
"That kind of battle took me back a while, to a time when you could battle just for fun" said the boy who still hadn't made eye contact with her. Cynthiya agreed with the boys words. As Champion the pressure to win every match was certainly there, with the sakes that high she hadn't truly enjoyed a battle in so long, not since Lucas had beaten her.
"Say how about a battle" came the boy. The challenge startled the champion, who for a second couldn't believe what the boy had just said. He had finally made eye contact with the champion revealing a pair of brown eyes that looked straight through the Sinnoh Champion. They were cold, unwavering in her boys challenge out of the blue was unexpected, not a normal occurrence for her due to her time sitting in Pokemon league, even when she was out in field a challenge was a rare occurrence. Those that did challenge her had been the types that overestimated their own strength or those wishing to test themselves with the very best. The boy in front of her was different though. His had an air of aloofness that was perplexing. His eyes held this quiet confidence that was unusual for someone his age. The only one who had a similar look was Lucas. Cynthia felt good after watching the kids battle the burning desire for a battle swelled up inside her a feeling she hadn't had since her own adventuring days.
"Alright then, how about a one on one, one knockdown" came the Champion who stated rules to match the small field.
"Sounds good, Aipom you're up" came the boy, who had moved to the edge of the clearing donning the fedora on his head. The Pokemon perked up at his trainers command and took the field directly in front of the boy.
Cynthia made her way to the opposite edge of the clearing, drawing a pokeball from her belt. Cracking open with a flash of light, out came Glaceon. The Ice Pokémon taking her position across the opposing Aipom.
"This will be a one on one battle, the first Pokémon knocked down shall be eliminated and the opponent declared the victor" Came the sinnoh Champion. Looking her opponent in the eye. Normal rules would dictate the battle ongoing until a Pokémon was unable to battle. Because the stadium was small the two agreed that the battle would stop as soon as a pokemon was off their feet. Meaning that balance was extremely important, one shot could decide the victor in an instant.
Cynthia mused, she had the advantage as Glaceon was four-legged, her balance being far greater than a two legged pokemon. The boy didn't look to be a slouch either and Aipom and fierce pokemon who's dexterity was second to none, if she wasn't careful this won't end well for the Champion.
Regardless she was going to win. She may have been surprised at his challenge but as champion a loss wasn't something she could take. She was going to show the kid why exactly she was was the best in the league.
"Okay Glaceon start it off with Ice Shard" command Cynthia.
Glaceon shot forward hurling dics of ice at the unsuspecting Aipom who dodged by jumping in the air using its tail to springboard up. The boy countered with a swift, spraying near un-dogeable stars at glaceon who braced as the attack made contact. Using this opportunity Aipom broke into fury swipes closing the gap between the two Pokemon it used its tail to batter glaceon who was still fazed by the last attack. Shouting for it to dodge Glaceon leapt back, causing Aipom to hit the dirt, anticlimactically.
The boy had launched a combo that would have taken a lesser trainer out, he was skilled, something that Cynthia recognised. Knowing that she was up against a high calibre of opponent she went on the offensive, using combination attacks of ice shard and ice fang, to stagger Aipom and strike when the pokemon was off balance. Aipom proved to be a match for the combo attacks using agility to evade the attacks.
The boy seemed to switch gears using multiple agilities to send his Aipom to a rush of speed, encircling glaceon in a vortex of speed.
Knowing that his speed outmatched glaceons Cynthia opted for a different route. Using Dig the frost pokemon dove in the surface of the dirt out of Aipoms sight. Shooting back up with a fury Glaceon knocked Aipom in the air, the pokemons speed accentuating the power of glaceons attack.
The noise from their battle had attracted a small handful of spectators, the kids that were battling before had re-appeared with a further selection of children. They were watching this contest with fixed attention as unbeknown to them two of the world's strongest trainers were duking it out.
The dig attack had caused Aipom significant damage, with his speed increasing the power of the attack. Shot in the air, the boy retaliated with a barrage of Swift, using his newly gained high vantage point to pepper the field with projectiles.
It was like a meator shower, Cynthia was taken aback at the boy's bold strategy and his Aipoms strength. He took being knocked into the air and turned it into a position of strength to launch a counter attack.
Not admirind the attack for too long,Cynthia commanded galceon to shoot aipom down with ice beam, blasting the purple monkey with concentrated bolts of ice, catching the corner of the pokemons tail aipoms decent was dramatically sped up, the monkey unable to stay in control of his landing. With the one knockdown rule the boy was in trouble. As Aipom would fall flat as soon as he hit the ground and even if he was on his feet Glaceon would take him down straight away.
"Aipom, last resort!" came the boy, as aimpons tail glowed a brilliant white, causing the ice to break off. Cynthia knew the kid was trying to end it, using last resort in that position would cause Aipom to crash down like a meteor, taking both of them down together. While she admired the kids boldness Cynthia saw through that plan in an instant. Waiting for the right moment she ordered Glaceon to jump in the air a moment before Aipom made contact. If it went according to plan Aipom would wipe out leaving her to be the winner.
Unbeknownst to the Champion the boy knew the risks of the attack he was pulling and had an ace up his sleeve. Falling backwards the kid waited for Glaceon to dodge in the air he command Aipom to abandon last resort and use fling, launching the razor claw it had hidden in its pouch at the unsuspecting Glaceon. Making contact Glaceon was caught off guard and fell to the floor with a crash. The two Pokémon fell down seemingly simultaneously landing in the dirt with a crash.
Knowing the battle was over as soon the pokemon hit the ground Cynthia ran to her glaceon with the kid following suit to his Aipom. Glaceon was on her side, panting as the last attack had winded her. Aipom was flat on his back with a ridiculous smile on its face. The kid was slowly massaging the monkey's cheeks, whispering how great of a job it did, and how he was proud of him. Cynthia could only do the same to Glaceon who was surprised at the quality of her opponent. The seemingly aloof Aipom was no slouch in battle and Glaceon was slightly miffed at being matched, her pride as the Champions pokemon not letting this go. Thanking Glaceon for her effort she pulled put her pokeball and re-called the worn out pokemon.
Cynthia wondered, as both the pokemon went down at the same time who was the winner of this battle. Looking at the kid as to an answer she was caught off-guard by how quickly Aipom had got to his feet and leapt to his trainers shoulder, stealing his hat with its tail and putting it on his head.
She was broken from her trance by the sound of applause from the sides of the fields. The kids that were looking from the sidelines were cheering wildly from the battle. Looking beside her she could see her opponent joining in the applause.
Cynthia blushed slightly as her appoint made his way to her side and raised her hand in the air, singling her victory. Surprised by his admission of defeat she was about to ask why but was cut off before she could start her sentence.
"Aipom went down before glaceon, by the rules of the match that makes it your win" came the boy, Aipom nodding in confirmation.
"Thank you for the battle, I'm Cynthia, it was a pleasure to battle you today" came the champion and as extend her hand to the boy."
"Name's Nate" came the boy "and thank you, Ms Cynthia, it's not often one gets to battle a champion, regardless of the circumstances."
Cynthia blanched at the realization that Nate knew who she was so quickly. It must have shown on her face as Nate broke into a laugh.
"Oh C'mon, did you think that disguise would work Cynthia?" laughed Nate "There's not many tall, blonde beautiful women who can be found in a place like this"
"How long have you known?" asked Cynthia slightly embarrassed at Nate's description of her. Nate laughed once more, trying to stifle it with his hand, even Aipom let out a little chuckle. From their reactions she could guess that they knew the entire time, well so much for going incognito thought the champion as she sighed.
"Sorry Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you. How about I make it up to you with dinner at the patio" Nate replied slightly blushing at his offer.
"Well Nate what are we waiting for, lead the way" Said Cynthia accepting the trainers offer. Never one to deny free food Cynthia found Nate to be interesting. His battling style, demeanour and overall attitude, no matter the confidence to ask the Sinnoh champion to dinner was strangely appealing. She was curious to get to know this trainer better.
