a/n: Tbh I like shorter, more episodic chapters ngl…
Anyways enjoy!
—-
Cynthia rolled out of the pokemon center bed, while truthfully not the most comfortable thing in the world, as far as Cynthia was concerned it may as well have been a fluffy cloud. The rays of the sun just rising woke her up.
It was an incredible feeling if she was being honest, the freedom and elation of being on her own adventure. She looked on the other side of the bed, her Togepi nestled between two pillows.
Gible was not allowed to sleep outside of its poke ball, considering how loud and clumsy it was.
Cynthia laughed, imagining her clumsy Gible trying to sleep in a warm bed. She figured it would be warm underground, where they naturally lived.
Cynthia tried to decide what her plans should be. She literally had no plan outside of "Leave town and figure it out"
That needed to change. Cynthia was on her adventure, so she needed to form a plan for her adventure!
Cynthia got dressed and went downstairs to the pokemon center lobby. It was nearly empty, as would be expected of Celestic Town, especially at this early hour.
After a quick breakfast, Cynthia asked Nurse Joy for a map of Sinnoh, along with paper and pen so she could plan out a route through Sinnoh, and cover all 8 gyms.
Cynthia rolled out a map of Sinnoh that had all of the cities marked on it.
Cynthia scratched her head and began to trace a route through Sinnoh, considering gyms.
Legally speaking, gym leaders could be challenged in any order as they were required to keep teams on hand for trainers of five badges and below. However, after five badges the rules were off and gym leaders were allowed to use league ready teams. Some gym leaders restrained themselves, using themselves as a way for trainers to get strong and improve themselves. And other gym leaders tried to prevent as many trainers as possible from advancing to the league.
The first gym she would challenge would be Eterna City, its close proximity to Celestic with just a quick shortcut through would save her plenty of time and allow her to train.
Cynthia traced south to Oreburgh from Eterna; that would be a logical second stop with a trek through Eterna Forest.
Jubilife City, the largest city in Sinnoh and not too far from Oreburgh. Home of the oldest gym in Sinnoh, and naturally would be on her list.
Canalave City, not too far away from Jubilife. Just a short ferry ride away to the bustling port city, ever since the war against Johto twenty years ago, the population had suffered but they were finally starting to rebuild. The gym had a reputation for being the most unique in Sinnoh, the person who told her didn't expand on what that meant.
After she finished that area of Sinnoh, she would take a long hike to Hearthome City. It would be a good chance to train with her team and get them on par for the next few gyms. Hearthome had a new gym leader according to her grandmother.
After Hearthome, she'd go to Pastoria, home of the great marsh. She hadn't heard much about the Pastoria Gym leader, she assumed he was another boring old man.
For her 7th badge, she'd go to Veilstone and fight there. Veilstone was known for having a gym leader who was absent frequently, so hopefully she could track him down.
Finally, she'd end at Sunnyshore City, with supposedly the hardest leader in had a…mixed reputation based on word of mouth.
Cynthia counted on her fingers, which made eight.
And then….well, it was time for the league! Her heart fluttered even thinking about it, standing in front of a crowd screaming her name. She would be the best! No ifs, ands or buts!
Cynthia finished making some notes on her route. She folded the paper and put it in her pocket before thanking Nurse Joy for her help.
"Alright, I'm heading out! Thank you so much Nurse Joy!" Cynthia said with a wave
"Good luck Cynthia!" Nurse Joy said with a wave as Cynthia left the center
Cynthia walked outside and took a deep breath in, enjoying the morning air around her.
This was the first full day of her adventure, and she intended to make the absolute most of it
"Alright guys, let's make the most of today!" Cynthia said as she released her team, she wanted to spend as much time with her pokemon outside of their balls before they were too big to walk comfortably with her.
"Gible!" Gible exclaimed happily, excited to be outside
"Let's go!" Cynthia said, putting Togepi in her backpack and running off East, towards Eterna City.
—-
About an hour later, she had reached the start of a path and looked at a sign pointing towards Eterna City, with a distance that seemed about like walking for the better part of a day. If she had a good time, she'd make it well before sunset.
"Alright, I can do this!" Cynthia exclaimed. Gible and her little legs already seemed tired, maybe she'd recall her if it got bad, but training her endurance didn't hurt either.
Suddenly, a figure jumped out of the bushes which startled Cynthia.
"Holy shi-" She was cutoff by a promt challenge
"I'm a ninja! And the ninja code requires me to defeat you for infringing upon my land! Prepare yourself you vile foe! Zubat, let's go!"
Cynthia couldn't contain her excitement. It was her first battle! She watched the Zubat emerge and give a little shriek.
"Alright, Gible, get in there!"
Gible walked in front of Cynthia and tripped over a rock.
Cynthia giggled but the Ninja Boy seemed impatient.
"Zubat, leech life!"
Zubat flew towards Gible, ready to bite down
Cynthia did a double take, she really was in a battle now.
"Gible, attack!"
Gible just headbutted Zubat clumsily, missing her mark entirely, spare her dorsal fin that barely scraped Zubat.
Zubat flew up, dodging a more serious blow.
Cynthia's cheeks flushed. She realized she didn't know Gible's moves at all. She'd need to take care of that.
She fumbled for her pokedex that her grandmother gave her and finally got ahold of it, but the Ninja Boy wasted no time.
"Zubat, attack again with leech life!"
"Gible, uh do that again!"
Gible and Zubat repeated the same maneuver as last time, but Gible was slightly slower this time. She'd need to scan these moves ASAP if she wanted to win this.
Cynthia scanned Gible, and her Pokedex readout, "This Gible knows the moves sand tomb and double edge!"
Cynthia smiled, she had seen her grandma's Gabite use double edge before! It was probably one of those egg moves she had read about in biology class.
So she decided to go for the logical option, "Gible, use sand tomb!" Cynthia commanded
Gible punched the ground, and a tiny sandstorm emerged around Zubat. Cynthia crossed her arms triumphantly before she just saw Zubat fly away as if nothing ever happened.
"Oh," Cynthia said, disappointment evident in her voice
"Do you mock me by attacking with ground on a flying type?" His voice cracked, this kid couldn't have been older than twelve.
The Ninja Boy was out for vengeance and ordered another attack
"Attack with wing attack!" The Ninja boy commanded
Cynthia smirked, well perhaps she'd have to go about this another way.
"Gible, double edge now!" Cynthia commanded with determination in her voice
Gible glowed orange and slammed at a surprising speed into Zubat, brutally body checking the poor bat and sending it crashing down to earth.
Gible didn't exactly have a cushioned landing, suffering some recoil damage from an ungraceful fall. Gible bounced on the ground before getting back up.
Zubat did not get back up.
There was a pause for a moment, and then the trainer recalled his Zubat. He kicked the ground in frustration.
"You may pass," He said before diving back into the bushes, before yelping in pain from hitting himself on tree branches.
She honestly felt bad for many trainers like that, kicked out of their home and forced to go on an adventure with nothing but a poke ball to pave a road to glory. But not everyone was cut out for that life, some ended up like Mr. Ninja over here, ambushing trainers with his Zubat for a quick buck. Others…..others were worse off and sometimes ended up with criminal organizations such as Team Rocket.
Cynthia continued down the road, not stopping for another hour until she was stopped by a loud noise.
"Help!" A voice shrieked out
Cynthia, ever the good samaritan, ran towards the origin of the noise.
There was a large Ponyta, huffing steam on a blonde girl who was on her knees, her back hunched over something.
Cynthia wasted no time, "Attack that Ponyta, double edge!"
Her Gible launched itself at the large Ponyta, landing a direct hit.
Ponyta was pushed into a tree and then fell over.
Gible landed slightly more gracefully, this time on two feet.
Ponyta stood up and stomped its hooves. It was war now
Togepi chirped lowly, it seemed worried watching this whole affair.
Ponyta began charging and Cynthia pointed at it. "One more double edge!"
The charging Ponyta covered itself in flames and charged Gible head on. Gible started glowing orange and launched herself at Ponyta. The two attacks met head on and exploded.
Ponyta and Gible had swapped positions, with Gible standing where Ponyta was, and Ponyta standing where Gible was.
Cynthia locked eyes with Ponyta, who fell over, fainted from Gible's attack.
Gible did the same, but didn't faint. She was just tired
Cynthia looked at the girl who she had just saved.
She was blonde, and about her own age.
She stood up, and revealed the object she was protecting was…..a camera?
"Hey," Cynthia plainly said
"Hey…" The girl replied. She had a distinct accent, but Cynthia couldn't recognize it.
"Are you ok?" Cynthia asked
The girl nodded, "Thanks to you I am! If it weren't for your…uhhhh...my apologies but I don't know what that pokemon is called, I failed pokemon identification in school,"
Cynthia giggled, "That's Gible and she's my starter!"
"Togepi!" Togepi was outraged
"I didn't forget about you Togepi," Cynthia replied to her angry egg
"This is Togepi, and she was my first pokemon. She was literally born yesterday, so she's a little new,"
"Awwwe," The girl smiled at Togepi
"Oh, I never even caught your name!" Cynthia said
The girl laughed, "My name is Viola!"
Cynthia offered her hand, "I'm Cynthia,"
The two girls shook hands
"So, what exactly happened?"
"Well, I'm a photographer as you can tell," Viola said motioning to her camera
Cynthia nodded
"Anyways I wanted a close up shot of Ponyta, and well…. I may have gotten a hair too close and then Ponyta charged me, I was so scared…."
"Well, I'm glad you're safe Viola,"
"So uhhh what's up with the rare starter I've never seen?" Viola asked
"Oh, heh. Yeah, well I'm actually from Celestic Town, not all that far away. I left for my journey later than usual because of some…..constraints with my family,"
Viola nodded, "I feel the same way. My sister finally left on her journey, and I felt obligated to go on my own, it's honestly not as fun as I've imagined it to be,"
Cynthia shook her head, "Sorry to hear that,"
"It's fine, tomorrow is a new day after all," Viola replied
Cynthia smiled, that was something her grandmother would always say.
"Oh, Cynthia, I never asked. What's your goal?" Viola asked
"I'm going to Eterna City to challenge the gym there! And after that, I'm gonna get all 8 badges and win the pokemon league!" Cynthia proudly stated
Viola laughed, "A girl with dreams! Love to see it! Mind if I travel with you to Eterna City? My partner was knocked out by that Ponyta,"
Cynthia nodded, "Of course Viola!"
The two girls set off to Eterna, walking down the road in comfortable silence.
—-
Later that day, the two arrived in Eterna just as the sun started to set.
Viola looked around, "Well, uhh guess this is it. Thanks for the help Cynthia, I really appreciate it. It means a lot,"
Cynthia interrupted her, "Actually, ummm if it's not too inconvenient would you mind watching my gym battle tomorrow? I've never done one before, and uhhh it'd be nice to have a friendly face to watch me,"
Viola smiled at Cynthia, "Of course! I'd love to join you, I bet you're gonna put on a show!"
Cynthia laughed, "You know it!"
"Well, come on. Let's get some food and rest if we're challenging the gym tomorrow!" Viola said as she motioned towards the pokemon center
"Sounds good," Cynthia agreed as she ran towards the center.
After getting some food, Cynthia sat down next to Viola
"So tell me more about where you're from?" Cynthia asked Viola
"I'm from Kalos!" Viola replied
"Oh, so that's why you have an accent?" Cynthia replied
Viola nodded, "Common isn't my first language, I grew up speaking Kalosian and I'm still fluent,"
"Well, it's a cool accent," Cynthia complimented Viola
"Am I really the one with an accent? The way I see it, you're the one with an accent!" Viola countered
Cynthia shrugged, "I suppose you could see it that way, maybe it's just a matter of perspective,"
"Anyways, what's your plan for the gym tomorrow?"
"Uhhh, I haven't thought much about it to be honest, I just know that Gible is strong enough to take care of it!"
"Any plans on battling with Togepi?" Viola motioned to the sleeping egg
"Uhhhh, not sure to be honest," Cynthia replied
"Well, you should start battling with her sooner then not, practice helps at a young age," Viola stated
Cynthia nodded, "I guess, maybe I'll start her after the gym battle,"
Viola shrugged, "Alright, whatever you say,"
Cynthia finished eating her food, "Are you going to take pictures of me tomorrow?"
Viola nodded, "Yes! I'm always taking photos, I just love capturing the bond between people and pokemon and nothing does that better than a gym battle!"
Cynthia smiled, "Awesome! So you can catch Gible and I winning!"
"Looking forward to it," Viola said
Cynthia yawned, "Woah, I'm tired. I guess traveling has me beat down, huh? I think I'm gonna get some rest,"
Viola nodded, "Same here, what time do you want to meet for tomorrow?"
Cynthia thought for a moment, "Hmmm, let's say 7 in the morning. I'd like to get an early start!"
Viola gave a thumbs up, "Alright, goodnight Cynthia. It was nice meeting you,"
Cynthia smiled, "Goodnight Viola, see you in the morning,"
Cynthia went to bed that night smiling, she had made her first friend in years. She closed her eyes dreaming of becoming the best.