She should have known this wouldn't have been a good idea, she, Cynthia, Champion of the Sinnoh League, should have known better than this, except, that she didn't. Now she was left struggling, limping through the Eterna Forest, all because she had been careless.
The people of Eterna, alarmed by the activity of Team Galactic in the area came to her as she found herself in the area, studying the statue of the city. It didn't take her long to find a reckless group of grunts hanging around, that, when she spotted them, ran away into the nearby forest, and, she thought it would have been a good idea to follow them in order to capture them. It should have been easy, she believed, she was stronger than them all combined when it came to Pokemon battles, however, when it came to accidents, she was just another regular person, she wasn't excluded, she wasn't immune.
The forest of Eterna wasn't to be trusted, it was easy to lose the path in the thick trees, the very same trees weren't to be trusted, and she, was unfortunate enough to get caught in one of their natural traps. In the rush to run after the grunts, in high heels, which itself wasn't smart, she didn't notice a particular thick root sticking out from the terrain, she was left tumbling on the ground, dirtying herself in the process and scraping her arms on the fallen branches, and, the worst of all, with a sprained ankle.
"Way to go Cynthia..." she mumbled angrily to herself, not only she was left like this now, but she also lost sight of those grunts as well.
She had tried to leave the forest through flying, calling her Togekiss out from the Pokeball, however, with all the goodwill both her and her Pokemon had, she couldn't climb on his back, the pain wouldn't allow her to put any strength on her injured foot, and balancing only on one leg she just couldn't manage, even with Togekiss trying to help her by nudging her with his wings. With a sigh she recalled the Jubilee Pokemon, much to his own disappointment as well. She did call out her Garchomp though, for protection, if she had to somehow walk back all the way, she'd rather have her fiercest and most trusted companion at her side.
Unfortunately, she didn't make it far, as her ankle gave out, from the strain and the pain, she fell back down, holding a curse, she forced herself to rest, leaning against the tree behind her, the land shark giving her a worried look, crouching down at her master's level, Cynthia pat her muzzle.
"I'm fine, I just need to..." she didn't finish the sentence, hearing movements coming from the bushes near by, Garchomp rising and growling beside her.
The face that appeared from them was not one she expected to see, nor that she wanted to see at all.
"Cyrus..." she almost glared at him, he stared back at her, with his usual emotionless expression.
"Champion" he greeted her, stopping in front of them.
"Did your grunts come crying back to you?" she scoffed, even in her position she could not afford to show herself weak, she could never do, and surely, she wasn't going to start now, and not in front of him. Garchomp would protect her, should he try something, she was sure, and she had the rest of her team with her as well.
"Matter of fact, they did" he closed his eyes, seemingly not worried.
"So you're here to take me hostage then, go ahead and try if you can" she threatened, emphasized by her Pokemon's loud growl.
She didn't get an answer, just a blank stare, he looked at her, as if contemplating his next move, his gaze stopping mostly on her injured ankle. He took a step towards her, and so did her Pokemon towards him too, baring her teeth in front of his face, Cyrus just stared back. "I can help"
Cynthia's jaw almost dropped, her eyes wide, she couldn't believe what she just heard, Cyrus, head of Team Galactic, and her biggest enemy, wanted to help her? Swallowing hard she uttered a command to the land shark.
"Stand back" Garchomp gave her a more than confused look "Don't make me say it again" she said, effectively managing to her to back up, allowing Cyrus to get close to her. She was giving up every bit of pride she had, in order to trust him. She didn't know whether to feel more stupid or actually desperate.
He said nothing, his face betrayed no trace of emotion as he crouched to her level, taking her foot in his lap, carefully taking her boot off it. Her ankle was red and swollen, no wonder it hurt her, he thought. Tearing off a piece of cloth from his shirt, he made a makeshift bandage for her, it wasn't the best, but it would do for the time being, at least last long enough for her to get somewhere safely.
"This will do, you have a flying type do you?" he asked, as he helped her put her shoe back on, being careful not to hurt her more than she already was.
"Of course I do" she huffed as she released Togekiss once again, recalling Garchomp in the process, both her Pokemon glaring at the man still. He didn't seem to acknowledge the fact, he just nodded.
He helped her get on her Pokemon's back, sure that he would take her away where she could get actual help, before taking off though, she had to ask him.
"Why?" she looked directly in his eyes, trying to find a trace of something, even the tiniest bit, she didn't get any. He turned from her instead.
"We used to be friends, once" he said, making it clear that he wouldn't tell anything more than that.
Quietly, she nudged her Togekiss, taking off to the skies, flying into the distance.
Sometime later, she managed to get back to the League building, where she stumbled in, immediately noticed by her fellow Elite Four.
She fell victim of Bertha's gaze first. "What happened?" the old woman asked.
Cynthia wanted to scream, to say everything, that she made such stupid decisions, and that the head of the criminal organization had helped her, she should have said everything right there, but... if the past still mattered, even a little, then she would not betray him.
"It was just an accident.."