IMPORTANT
Read the Author's Notes of this chapter.
Chapter 30: The Next Step
"So I think all of you have the jist of the situation now." said Goodshow.
"Mr. Goodshow, these people you are asking us to work with kill other people."
"Yes I am aware of that myself Lance what is your point here?" Goodshow questioned
"My point is are you expecting us to do the same."
Forester was the one to interrupt this time
"Of course not, the only interest we have in you guys is your specialism in Pokemon nothing more nothing less."
"But still to think that the people you are working with are dangerous it's really unsettling." Added Alder.
"I agree with Alder, we also know very little about them." said Ash.
"The information on the Rangers is none of your concern Champion, all you need to worry about is the offer that is in front of you all." Goodshow countered
It was obvious to the eye that the Champions were distraught, as Cynthia assessed the situation in her head
[Lance's angry, Steven is scared, Alder is doubtful, Ash is worried and Diantha she is not even wanting to take part in the coversation because of the shock, Arceus what did Rain tell her.]
"Champions if you want time to think this over, please by all means take a day but do give us an answer." asked Forester politely.
Don't get Cynthia wrong she was more then ready to risk herself for the betterment of her region and so were the other Champions but because of the sudden proposal all of them were rendered incapable of thinking straight.
Cynthia glanced at her wristwatch and it was almost 10 PM.
[This is gonna be a long meeting.] she thought.
It was 1 AM and the Rangers were still waiting for the decision from the Champions to come. This late at night Ember and Stone had already drifted off to take a nap on the same sofa, meanwhile Spark had just tucked a pillow under the now fully asleep Leaf.
Only Rain, Frost and Spark were now awake sitting on a different set of Sofa farther away from their sleeping teammates in order to not disturb them.
"Leader what are we gonna do if they do join us?" asked Spark while trying to suppress a yawn.
"Sparky go to sleep you've had a tiring day today." Frost simply denied him the answer.
"Don't call me 'Sparky' leader but seriously this is crazy." Spark said.
"We don't know Spark." Rain answered on Frost's behalf.
Frost sighed and looked at Spark and asked
"Spark if you are not planning to sleep do me a favor and look up the personal history of two people."
"Sure Leader who do you want to know about." asked Spark while sitting up and bringing his Laptop to the table.
"Ash Ketchum and Cynthia Shirona." Frost answered dryly.
Rain almost choked on the coffee she was drinking as she glared at Frost.
"But why Leader?" asked a now puzzled Spark.
"Don't worry about it just tell me everything we have on record."
"Frost don't tell me you are actually preparing for them to join us." asked Rain.
"No it's not that it's just that these two have caught my eye."
"Well I can understand Ash because he is in the Aura Guard but why Cynthia I mean isn't she just a really strong trainer." said Spark while already looking up the documents on Ash.
"Ya there is nothing out of place with her so why the sudden interest…. In her especially." teased Rain.
"As I said something about THEM caught my eye and I want to know more about THEM." replied Frost while stressing on the word.
"Leader you sure you haven't fallen for the Sinnoh Champion, I mean don't get me wrong she is beautiful but I did not think she'd be your type." said Spark while helping Rain in the teasing
Frost sighed as he said
"Spark what have you found on Ash?" Frost said while completely avoiding the subject.
Spark also stopped his teasing and returned back to his work as he said
"Nothing amazing born Pallet Town, lives with his single mother and was just recently became the Champion of his home region Kanto."
"Go back another few years look deeper." said Frost while stretching his back and joining Spark in the search.
"Sure."
After typing and searching through the archives some more Spark gasped in shock
"Damn who is this Kid turns out he helped out during a lot of things all around the regions Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh you name it he's been there more…."
Hearing this Frost smirked as his hunch was once again right and Rain who was not paying attention before was now standing behind them reading the personal history of the young Champion.
"He's just sixteen years…." Rain said as she read the long report encounters with multiple organizations Pokemon hunters and so on.
"Leader this Kid was also a integral part of an old Ranger op in Hoenn, where a high class generalize Ranger was tasked to take out The Phantom Pirate gang and deliver a Manaphy egg to the hidden temple of the sea." added Spark in awe.
"Who was the Ranger?" questioned Rain.
"Jack Walker." replied Spark.
"That is not the half of it, look at the date of the operation." said Frost as he pointed at the screen.
"No way." said Rain and Spark in unison as Frost continued.
"This was 5 years ago meaning he was 11 at the time." said Frost while keeping a hand on Spark's shoulder as he added "This 'KID' has about an year more 'on field experience' than you Sparky."
Spark at this point forgot about him teasing Frost and quickly pulled Cynthia's history and started searching for key points.
"According to Stone, Ash is also a high ranking Aura Guardian, higher than himself." Frost also added.
Spark opened Cynthia's file and said
"Cynthia Shirona, she lives with her grandmother who is a Pokemon Professor, in her family mansion in Celestic Town turns out her Father was once a big shot doctor in Sinnoh, well that explains her families wealth and her Mother was a housewife while the mother died in an car accident 12 years ago, Father died just a few years ago due to some lingering disease."
"Damn talk about a harsh life." chirped Rain.
"Yeah she is tougher than she looks…."added Frost while thinking.
[She wasn't lying about her Father back in the Hotel room.]
"Frost your girlfriend also seems to be quite the adventurer." began Rain as she shook Spark off the Laptop and scrolled to a different article on Cynthia's solo archaeological expeditions.
Frost yet again ignored the 'girlfriend' tease as he read the articles about Cynthia exploring the different ruins and caves all around her own regions as well as others.
Spark whistled after seeing the long list even longer than Ash's as he commented
"Leader she must be a thrill seeker or adrenaline junkie because some of these caves or artifacts were DISCOVERED by her and her Garchomp."
"She's Good at it as well, juggling her life as Champion in this must be hard for her." said Rain in appreciation.
After viewing the files for some more time Frost checked the time and found it was 2 AM.
"Spark get some sleep the Champion's must be having a huge debate at this point and Forester must be getting grilled as well in that meeting room." he said.
"Alright, Big sis you should also get some sleep." Spark said as he closed his laptop and plopped on one the sofa Leaf was already asleep.
"Yeah I will..." Rain replied but soon saw Frost leaving the room altogether.
Spark who was almost asleep now didn't even see Rain leave the room to search for their leader.
Rain went out and and quickly hid behind a corner only to find frost fiddling with a vending machine and getting himself a can of honey lemon green tea another can of black coffee.
Frost immediately called out
"Rain stop hiding and take this coffee."
Rain smiled as she walked out of her hiding spot as she said
"Three years and I still cannot sneak up on you."
Frost smiled in return and threw the can of coffee at her and replied
"Well just today a grunt pulled a fast one on me in a van and I couldn't react fast enough so I am a bit out of it after three years."
"How modest of you." said Rain with a fun tone.
As Frost entered the elevator with Rain he said
"Your hair are shorter than usual, did you cut them."
"Why did you like my long hair." said Rain while setting the her hair into a bun.
"No really it is just weird looking at you without your long ponytail." he replied while sipping some tea.
"I suppose I miss that too I had to cut them for a mission sometime ago, you missed it I had a boy cut for almost a three months." she replied as the door of the elevator opened to reveal the roof the same roof Frost talked to Cynthia a few hours ago.
"Your acute insomnia is back as usual." said Rain with concern as she walked onto the roof with the chilly night wind brushing against her face thank God she was wearing a coat.
"Well I have sleepless nights here and there, but the frequency has reduced." Frost replied.
"They happen when you are too stressed."
"I know."replied Frost as he gazed at the same spot where Cynthia stood and told him to remember what she told him at the park.
"You are still worried that they will not reject the offer aren't you?" asked Rain.
There was a short silence after this when Frost finally took his Pokeball out and called out Ninetales.
Rain went on a slight defense when Frost called her fearing that she will freak the Pokemon out but to her surprise Ninetales looked at Rain and approached her, the Pokemon was still very cautious about her surroundings but Rain was still very impressed.
"Wow she can meet people again." Rain said referring to Ninetales changed behavior.
"Call yours out too." Frost said much to Rain's shock.
"Frost last time she almost Froze the entire Floor." Rain said while doubting Frost and thinking he was pushing his luck.
"Just so it." Frost said.
Rain prepared herself and took a Pokeball of her own out an ultra ball to be exact and threw it in the air revealing a large Water type Unovan Pokemon Samurott. The Pokemon Landed on his four feet while happy to see Frost again after so long immediately took a defensive stance after seeing Ninetales.
"Easy Boy." said Rain in order to calm the Pokemon because Ninetales wasn't attacking instead approached Samurott and sniffed the sword incorporated in his armour. Samurott returned the unexpected friendly gesture by smelling one of Ninetales many tails.
"Wow Frost you really helped her recover didn't you." Rain muttered in awe seeing the two Pokemon interact with each other somewhat normally.
Rain steeled herself as she stooped low as she slowly raised her hand to pet Ninetales and was happy to see Ninetales not freak out.
"She still can't stand a crowd but she can handle one-one interactions." said Frost to Rain as he turned his back to see the city lights again, Lumious had one of the best night life in Kalos after all.
Rain stood up and said
"But still you've really improved so much after so long, you should be proud of yourself." Rain praised.
Frost on the other hand still stared at the city with a blank expression which kinda confused Rain a bit.
[He just helped a Pokemon with serious PTSD recover and he looks like he isn't happy at all.] Rain thought as she asked.
"Frost I know something is wrong, What happened?" she demanded.
Frost sighed as he replied
"It wasn't me who helped Ninetales."
"What… then who was it."
"It was Cynthia."
"But that makes no sense she met you only a day ago when did she meet Ninetales."
"Yesterday only and I didn't know about it until today morning."
Rain was now absolutely blown away.
"She did something I couldn't do in three years in just few minutes of interaction." Frost replied while drinking his tea.
"Wow… I mean just wow the Champion's specialism with Pokemon is feat to behold." commented Rain as she looked at the two Pokemon sitting casually behind her.
"I am sure Cynthia doesn't even realize what she did (sigh) Rain her talent with Pokemon is amazing and it's not right to get her into our lives."
Now Rain put two and two together as she said
"You can't sleep because you can't stop thinking about her answer."
Frost smiled bitterly as he recalled Ninetales, Rain did the same with Samurott as Frost started walking towards the elevator with Rain following him
"It's not that….. I can't sleep because I already know her answer." he said softly as he entered the building leaving a unsettled Rain standing on top of the Roof staring at the white moon in the night sky.
Author's Notes:
I am back sorry for the delay (irregular updates are better than none). And here is another chapter with more character development for both OC's and Pokemon hope you all enjoy it. Also another thing popped up in my head while I was writing this chapter and that wasthat I haven't decided the main Pokemon for any OC other that Frost, Rain and Stone, so with that said if you all have any suggestions send me a PM or even better write it in the review section and I might consider it as well. You can suggest one Pokemon each for Leaf, Spark and Ember. There are a few things I want you to keep in mind if you are suggesting a Pokemon and that are:-
1) The type of Pokemon can be mixed one but one of the type should match with the element in the name of the OC (Eg. Frost → Ninetales is Ice/Fairy type.)
2) The Pokemon must be the final evolution of the same.
That is all from me this time. Until next time
PEACE