Ash had just arrived in Lumiose city and was currently waiting in the sluggish line at the hotel's front desk. This year's Lumiose Conference was shaping up to be the biggest the Kalos League had ever seen, and from what he heard on the way, the city was bursting at the seams. Trainers from all over had come to either participate or watch.
Pikachu on his shoulder was chattering excitedly, happy to be off the train. It had been several years since he last visited Kalos at all. He planned on meeting up with his old friends at least once and knew he would make a few new ones as well. There were sure to be a lot of trainers here with good stories to tell. He doesn't usually spectate tournaments, but this lined up perfectly with him finishing up in the Galar League tournament and he hoped it would be fun.
Ash, due to the experiences of the last hundred times he failed to find somewhere to sleep, luckily made a room reservation weeks ago when he decided he wanted to attend. So when he reached the front of the line, he received his room key without much fanfare. A lot better than could be said for the blonde woman in a hoodie to his right, who he could hear was being turned away.
He was about to head up to his room when pikachu tugged on his hair and chirped. He looked at the woman again and had to do a double take. Ash thinks he knows her, though she looks a LOT different than usual…
On just a hunch and pikachu's recognition, he taps her on the shoulder. "Uh, you need a room?" he said.
"YES, this is the 4th hotel I have tried today and no where has anything-" she turned to face him, stylish sunglasses in place. Then stopped short when she looked at him directly. Yep, he was sure now.
What are you doing here, C-" and she looks extremely alarmed and grabs his arm, yanking him out of the line and towards a hallway.
"Ash!" she said quietly, "don't blow my cover. I'm trying to avoid recognition here."
"Cynthia, I knew that was you. Why do you need a disguise exactly? Is something wrong?" Ash frowned.
Cynthia sighed and reached up to pet Pikachu on his shoulder, who was starting to spark with excitement. "No, I Just hoped for some privacy on this vacation. But I stupidly didn't reserve a hotel. I thought I could decide once I arrived in Kalos on which hotel had the best rates or best breakfast like I usually do when I travel. But this week is so crazy its not going well."
"I see, that does sound rough.. There are so many people here in the city I doubt you will have much luck." Ash said, thinking carefully. She probably wants to see Lumiose city and do some fun things too. An easy grin covered his face and he said confidently, "I can solve that problem for you though. Why don't you share my room? I'm sure there is a couch or something, this is a pretty fancy hotel and I am traveling alone for now. We can make it work if you are determined to remain undercover."
Cynthia nodded, a little chagrined. "I'm ok with a couch at this point. It's good to see you, by the way. Its been a while this time." A while. Yeah, he thought. The last time he saw Cynthia was right after her grandmother's funeral. Not exactly the best of circumstances.
"Alright, let's head up. This will be great, I'm sure. I'm really glad I ran into you too." Ash said. There weren't many people he would be more excited to explore Lumiose city with either way. Cynthia had been one of his closest friends for years despite their infrequent meetings and he hadn't expected to see her again until he visited Sinnoh again. "We can watch the tournament together and I've got all kinds of ideas for things to do in the city."
Dodging all the other trainers out and about in this huge building, Ash finally opened the door to his room and said, "Welcome to one of the cheapest rooms in this hotel."
"I'm sure it's fine, Ash." She said, pushing off the hood and sunglasses and immediately dropping onto the chair in the front room. "Gosh this has been a disaster of a day."
"What exactly went wrong? I still don't really understand the disguise."
"Well, I have been to many league battles and championships and conferences. As you know. But I wanted a vacation and I thought it would be fun to see the tournament without all the Champion stuff. I like my Champion duties, but I always miss being able to do normal sightseeing, watch whatever matches I want, and not being forced to the stuffy 'honored guest' luncheons. I also tend to get surrounded by fans and young trainers. Which I love, don't get me wrong- I'm just- a little worn out lately?" She smiled when Pikachu climbed into her lap.
"Sounds exactly like you needed a vacation." Ash said, "That would get old fast I think. I get recognized occasionally but no one really wants anything from me."
"I also wanted to check out some of the ruins around here without causing a fuss or involving the research centers. How did you recognize me by the way? I might need a better disguise…"
"Actually I didn't, Pikachu noticed first, didn't ya little guy?"
Pikachu squeaked and nuzzled into Cynthia's hand. "Is that right pikachu?" Little static sparks crackled out of his cheeks. "Either way, I hope no one else notices me. I thought without my normal clothes no one would recognize me so far from Sinnoh."
She was probably right, he thought. Without the feathers in her hair and black cloak, she was a different person. Suddenly, Ash worried Cynthia might not have wanted him to recognize her either. He said, "Oh, if you want to be completely anonymous, I can leave you alone or you can find another room tomorrow. I don't want to intrude on your break if that is important."
"Well, I won't lie, my original plan was to try to stay away from anyone who knows me…. but… I don't think I mind having you and pikachu around. We probably have a lot to catch up on."
Ash felt the faintest heat on his cheeks, but he agreed with her. "Yeah, I've been in Galar for over a year! You ever been there? I saw some crazy things in that region and made a lot of new friends."
Cynthia's eyes lit up. "I only went briefly, when Leon took the champion title. I wish I could have stayed longer. It seemed like it had so much rich history."
"Yeah, I got to see the geoglyphs. They were amazing. The ancient people of Galar made these massive designs mainly visible from the sky, in the shapes of pokemon! We think it was to catch the attention of and honor the local legendaries. There are some shapes we can't even identify, though they must be pokemon, right? You would have loved it." He pulled out his dex to show some pictures.
"That is amazing. You took all of these?" She flipped through at least thirty pictures of the various glyphs, some taken at great height and some close ups of the stonework. He had even laid out measurement tools for scale in a few places and had made sure to get many shots and angles of the unidentified pieces. She looked at him, a little shocked.
"Yeah, I rode up on my new Corviknight to get a good view. It took a long time to train him for riding, but he's strong and picked it up eventually."
"I didn't know you were interested enough in history to take the time to do all that."
Ash grinned sheepishly, "Well, maybe you rubbed off on me. I try my best to understand everything about pokemon, and that includes their history with us I guess. Especially after encountering a few of the pokemon of legend myself I think my interest has increased over time." He trailed off.
Dialga and Palkia had changed both of them, in many ways.
Just then, his stomach growled loudly.
Pikachu's ears perked up at the sound, and Cynthia laughed. "Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving myself."
"Yeah! I've got the perfect place, if you don't mind."
"Lead the way. and tell me more about those geoglyphs… did you talk to anyone there currently researching them?"
"I hope you like this place, when I was last in Lumiose I thought it was the best. It's got these wonderful Kalos dishes that don't break the bank." Ash rambled, dragging his guest along.
"Whatever they serve here, I need it before I starve to death." She said, following him into the small restaurant and picking a booth. "I can't tell if I'm more tired or hungry."
"Serena and I found it when we had about 1000 yen to our names." He laughed, "I hope it's still the same. You can pick tomorrow if you know anywhere you want to check out."
"Yes actually, there is a plaza with a bunch of food carts. I always loved the atmosphere. People and pokemon eating together, lots of different choices, and kids running around." she smiled, "I used to go there with my grandmother and gible."
"Sounds like a plan. We can go there tomorrow after the first day of the tournament. Speaking of Gible, where is Garchomp? Did you bring him?"
"Sadly no. He needs so much exercise and discipline and attention, even now. Since I didn't really want to be recognized, I thought having Garchomp out anywhere would bring way too much attention to me. He is at home with most of the rest of my pokemon." She pulls out a pokeball and presses the button. Glaceon appears in a flash of red light by Cynthia's feet, shaking out her fur. "I only brought one pokemon with me actually."
"Aww, I haven't seen your Glaceon since Unova. Pikachu is all I have for now as well." Pikachu excitedly hopped down to play under the table with Glaceon. "Too bad about Garchomp though. Pikachu would have loved to try battling him again."
"He has been a handful lately. He usually lives for thrashing the trainers who challenge me, and I haven't had many of those the last few months!"
Ash laughed at that. Their food arrived and they both dug in. He watched her face and was happy to see she enjoyed it.
"Your reputation for thrashing everyone might finally be sticking, there are only so many out there willing to risk Garchomp." He said
"Oh I know. Still, I do enjoy it. The battles are why I love my job after all. It's all the rest that pushes me over the edge sometimes," She said. "Plus, I get to try out fights against skilled trainers from all over the world."
Ash launched into another story about what he learned of Galar's pokemon battle style and what he had learned there.
By the time they got back, it was pretty late.
There was a dilemma evident almost immediately.
Cynthia grimaced. "Um, Ash. There is a problem. There actually isn't a couch here.", she said, after checking out the back room with the bed. "It's just a bed back there and only a few chairs in this front room."
"What! I completely forgot to check when we made it up here, I was so focused on catching up. "
"I didn't either. Today has been a rather poor showing of my planning skills." She said wryly, "Do we have any options at this point?"
Ash felt terrible. It was way too late to find someplace else, if it even existed in the city. "Uh…. I guess I'll take the floor?" He said. Though he wasn't excited to sleep on the floor, he didn't want to force her to the floor either, or make her uncomfortable. He swallowed his pride though and said, "I need a shower before bed, you uh, get settled."
Cynthia didn't exactly look happy with that either. But she didn't immediately offer anything else so he assumed it was settled and went to shower, a little less spring in his step.
When he got back, she was dressed in some long black and silky pajamas from her bag. Hair down and sunglasses gone, she looked more like the Cynthia he was used to and he tried not to smile. She was petting Pikachu and Glaceon, sitting on one side of the bed with her typical unreadable expression.
Ash cleared his throat and said, "So uh, I'll just find a spot in the other room. Come on Pikachu."
"Actually, I think we can share the bed." she said without preamble, "We are both long since adults right? And we obviously know each other well. I feel awful taking the bed you paid for. You didn't even have to invite me up here." She was clearly fighting the ghost of a blush now but did look him in the eyes.
Ash had traveled a long time, he had slept in some cramped places before. He didn't suggest this solution himself because this was Cynthia, not one of his traveling buddies. But it was the most logical and he didn't really want to sleep on the floor. "If you're sure. I don't want it to be weird." He sat down opposite her on the bed, testing the waters.
"If you don't want to, honestly I will go back to Sinnoh. I really should have planned this better. I just wanted a little break. But me showing up and messing up your trip doesn't make any sense. I can start the trip back to Sinnoh tonight if need be." She said confidently. "I'm fine sharing the bed for the next two weeks, but it's up to you."
He appreciated the out but he didn't need it. "That's OK. I'm not worried. I think this will be fine, just let me know if you change your mind." He climbed into the plush bed and Pikachu flopped over in between them for maximum belly rub potential. "We should get to sleep now though. The tournament starts bright and early tomorrow and I bet we will enjoy it more after a good rest!"
She agreed and turned her back to him once she got under the covers too. He flicked the lights off.
"Thanks Ash, you really saved my ass here. I'm so used to the league organizing things for me and just having to show up to big events," She yawned.
"Next time, just call me ahead of time if you want to hang out, so we can book two rooms. I'll even pay for yours if the issue is money," he ribbed.
"Oh shut up," she laughed quietly. "I'm surprised you booked one at all, don't you usually stay in pokecenter hostels?"
"Yeah I used to, but lately I've gotten tired of it. Nothing better than a whole room to relax in where all your pokemon can come out and rest too, which they can't do at a pokecenter. Or maybe I'm just getting old."
She only hummed in response.
The soft chittering of Pikachu between them and comfortably cool air coming off Glaceon at Cynthia's feet was soothing. He looked at her back one last time before turning over himself and quickly falling off to sleep.
AN:/
FYI i started watching the Anime in 1999. Now that it is 2022, Ash is definitely not 10 in my mind anymore. He is whatever age you want. To me, he is probably 25 and Cynthia 29. They have known each other for 5 or 6 years starting when he traveled Sinnoh. This is how I see it, feel free to imagine whatever you like :)
Let me know if anyone actually likes this ship, I just learned it existed a few weeks ago and felt like exploring it. Never written pokemon before, so I appreciate any specific advice :)
Reviews are my applause and im an addict!