#4: You're Something Else, You Know?

(Cynthia x Clair)

"Have we got an excellent matchup for all of you folks tonight! One, a powerful Dragon-type gym leader with familial ties to a former Johto champion- And the other, the most renown Champion in the entire history of the Sinnoh region!"

The crowd roared as two figures entered the stadium, approaching the center before stopping a little ways away. The two women exuded powerful energy as they grinned to each other,

"It's nice to finally get to beat you, Cynthia."

"I'm glad to maybe have a nice challenge, Clair. How's your cousin been?"

Clair snorted a laugh, crossing her arms. "He gets weaker and weaker by the day! When I become the Johto champion, I'll certainly reign for longer than he did."

Cynthia chuckled, fond memories of battling against the powerful trainer Lance and his Dragonites coming back to her. The Sinnoh champ had been reigning for many years at this point, only ever being defeated by that one particular girl with the white hat.. Though those happy memories were plagued by a certain depressing ending that she'd rather avoid thinking about.

"Hey, am I not worth your attention?" Clair got serious, pointing at the champion before her and speaking loudly now. "I'll defeat you and prove that I'm the best Dragon-type trainer in the world!"

The crowd ate it up, cheering for one side or the other. Here in Unova, both had intense fanbases, as both of the women on the field had participated in the Pokemon World Tournament before, and both were well regarded for their looks as much as their battle prowess.

"This is going to be a quick one- A one on one match! Even still, I don't doubt that these two trainers will give us a spectacle the likes of a Champion's bout," the announcer exclaimed. "With the battle set to begin on this opening night of the Unova Championship, everybody keep that energy going!"

As the crowd went on, Cynthia and Clair both drew their Pokeballs from their sides, holding them up as they stared each other down. After a few moments, the crowd fell silent, watching the intense scene with baited breath-

Then the Pokeballs flew.

Bursting from the light of being released from the Pokeballs, Cynthia's Garchomp and Clair's Kingdra let out loud battle cries, which led the onlookers to start their cheers once more.

"The ace Pokemon are here! Clair's blindingly fast Kingdra, and Cynthia's destructive Garchomp!"

Clair raised her hands into the air in a bit of dramatic flair. "Kingdra, Rain Dance!'

The blue sea-dragon raised his head to the sky, a blue glow emitting from it. Dark clouds began to form above the arena, rain beginning to fall slowly, then more rapidly. Cynthia smiled, not minding that she was getting soaked, knowing that it the best kind of battles were the ones where the trainers themselves ended up putting themselves on the line.

"And now, Agility!" Clair closed a fist, as her Pokemon began to glow with a pink shimmer now, the floating sea-dragon starting to dart from side to side, showing off its incredible speed as it left after-images in its wake. "Letting me set up, huh? You're that confident?"

Cynthia shrugged. "I just like a challenge is all. Now- Garchomp, use Swords Dance!"

Garchomp let out a roar, before bringing its sharp talons forward, rapidly clanging them together til its body glowed with a white hue.

"Get close and Dragon Pulse!" At Clair's call, her Kingdra shot forward, appearing right in front of Garchomp in an instant, its narrow mouth beginning to glow with green-colored energy.

"Dig, Garchomp!" The ground Dragon quickly slammed its talons into the ground, digging furiously, making it beneath in an instant as the large beam of energy shot right it had been, the beam flying towards Cynthia who calmly stepped aside as it flew past and left a harrowing crater in the wall behind her. "Close one," she said with a grin.

Clair scowled as the crowd cheered for Cynthia. "Yeah, you're all about the show.. But Lance never got as strong as he was by caring about showmanship!"

"You have to find a nice balance," Cynthia said, pointing downwards.

As Clair looked beneath her Pokemon, the ground began to crumble, before Garchomp shot out, its talon aimed to strike. Without her command, the Kingdra easily maneuvered away in a spinning move, its speed absolutely unmatched, as the powerful Ground-type flew up into the air.

"You're wide open! Use Dragon Pulse!"

The Kingdra charged and fired another beam of powerful dragon energy. Cynthia held a hand forward in her first serious gesture thus far.

"Dragon Claw!"

Garchomp's talon began to glow with green energy matching the beam coming at it. It slammed it against the attack, struggling for only a moment before slicing right through it, sending some leftover spurts of power flying past it in a brilliant display of emerald hues. Clair's eyes widened, as Garchomp's momentum now carried it straight towards her Pokemon.

"Keep it up Garchomp," Cynthia commanded. Her Pokemon began to unleash a flurry of Dragon Claws one after the other towards its opponent, Kingdra moving back each time, its Swift Swim ability as well as the Agility making it too quick to hit.

"Retaliate with a Dragon Pulse," Clair shouted, just as her Pokemon moved back out of reach of another strike. As it began to charge up, Cynthia ordered her Pokemon to do just what Clair expected.

"Dig!"

As the Garchomp slammed back down into the ground to disappear, Clair issued a new order: "Now go for a Hydro Pump!"

Cynthia watched in surprise as the swirling green energy began to dissipate, being replaced very quickly as a large blast of water shot out from its mouth, the Pokemon blasting the entire rocky field around it in water. Suddenly, the terrain had gone from very barren and dusty, to very muddy, and it quickly became apparent where Garchomp was as the mud shifted.

"Watch it closely, keep your Dragon Pulse ready!"

Doing as Clair ordered, the Pokemon's mouth glowed steadily with dragon energy, as it watched the shifting mud. Cynthia couldn't help but smile, enjoying the strategy she was seeing… But there was a flaw to it, of course. In the end, Clair had revealed the four moves that her Kingdra was capable of using right now- Meanwhile, Cynthia had only shown three of her own.

And that fourth move was going to give her the victory.

"Garchomp! It's time to whip up a Sandstorm," Cynthia called. Clair's eyes widened as the mud suddenly burst upwards from the ground all around her Pokemon, confusing it, followed by the dust blasting upwards that covered the area in a thick sandy fog, the rain disappearing as the clouds dissipated above.

"Rain Da-" Before Clair could finish, Garchomp came in and delivered a powerful Dragon Claw that sent her Kingdra flying backwards, the Pokemon barely able to stop itself from slamming into the wall beside her. "Ah... "

Cynthia flourished a hand through her golden hair, before waving to the crowd that was going crazy over the battle. "Don't get too distracted by the sand, or Garchomp will finish you quick."

Clair scowled and held up a fist. "Kingdra, Agility!" Once more, her Pokemon glowed pink, before showing off its new speed as it darted around the field, too fast for the eye to see, only appearing when it would briefly stop. Garchomp looked around, unable to keep track of it, though the sand also made it difficult to see exactly where Garchomp was as well. "Alright Kingdra, give it all you've got with your Dragon Pulse!"

Kingdra moved til Garchomp was thoroughly lost, and shot a powerful beam of dragon energy at it from behind, stronger than ever before, the blast strong enough to blow the dust away in its wake-

But Garchomp wasn't it. Its Sand Veil ability made it incredibly thorough at dodging in the sand. While Kingdra was putting all of its energy into its attack, it had no chance to dodge as Garchomp ducked right under its attack and came in for a finishing blow.

"Dragon Claw!"

That was it. As Kingdra fell, and Garchomp stood without taking any damage at all, the stadium shook with cheers, and Clair fell to her knees in shock, thoroughly defeated.

"Hey!"

Cynthia stopped, turning to see a surprising figure approaching her. Clair, obviously out of breath from chasing after her, stopped and rested her hands on her knees.

"Hello again. Are you alright?" Cynthia gave her a worried look, as the girl seemed really winded.

Clair took a deep breath, and pointed an accusing finger at Cynthia. "I just wanted you to know… That battle was amazing! You're really something else… But… I won't ever lose to you ever again!"

Cynthia blinked at the girl, and let out a soft chuckle. "I'd hope not. You've got good instinct."

"Hmph... I don't need your pity words," Clair said, crossing her arms and looking away. "Just know… That you've made a rival today… Even if you don't acknowledge me as your rival, I'll never stop training until I defeat y-"

Clair's spheal was stopped as she looked ahead, seeing that Cynthia had gotten much closer to her. She flinched as the Champion brought a hand towards her, only for Cynthia to gently pat the top of her head, making Clair blush a bit.

"W-What are you…" Clair stammered, her fierce blue eyes gazing up at the champion before her. "I'm not some kid!"

"I know, but… You remind me of somebody," Cynthia spoke, a distant look in her eyes. "Someone I miss a lot."

Confused, Clair watched as the champ brought her hand away and turned around. Something about her seemed sad now, which was something that Clair never expected to see, as Cynthia was always touted as the most powerful and ruthless battler in the world.

"Do you… Want to talk about it?"

Cynthia shook her head. "Not really.. But I think I'd like to talk to you more." She looked at Clair with a gentle smile.

Clair gulped, not expecting this turn of events. Her face flushing a bit, she twirled a finger through her blue strands of hair, showing a sort of nervousness that, much like Cynthia's sadness, was essentially never seen by anyone before.

"I-I'd like that… Do you want to get some tea, or something," Clair asked.

"I think I'd like that a lot," Cynthia answered.

Two Years Later

"Welcome one and all! Have we got an exciting match for you today! Returning from last years opening bout, we have two Champions with us tonight-"

After the announcer finished hyping up the crowd, two women walked out side by side, hand-in-hand, their other hands raised to wave at the cheering crowd. As they reached near the center of the field, the tall blonde of the pair turned to her blue-haired partner, lifting her hand and kissing the top of it in a display that sent the crowd wild.

"I won't go easy," Cynthia said with a cheeky smile.

Clair huffed. "I wouldn't forgive you if you did!'

As Cynthia moved to take her place, and the announcer pumped the crowd up more and more, the two women smiled to each other, excited for the battle to come. As they lifted their Pokeballs in preparation to throw them out… Their two matching silver rings glittered from the lights above.

Then the Pokeballs flew-

In the heart of Jubilife City, a particular girl in a red coat and white hand stopped, gazing over at a television that was displayed in a shop window.

"Amazing! Garchomp's taken a powerful blow!"

She smiled as she saw the blonde Champion of the Sinnoh region appear on screen, looking like she was in the most intense and fun battle of her entire life.

I'm glad…

The girl continued on down the street, memories coming back to her of her time participating in the Sinnoh League. All the fond memories she had, and her bout with Cynthia that resulted in the woman's first ever loss. Though their paths diverged and they went separate ways, Dawn would never be able to forget her.

She loved her once, after all.

End

Next Story: Lightyears Away

(Lillie x Selene)