Hopefully this chapter is good. Thank you to LightningBlade49 for helping me out. He's been really awesome giving me an objective point of view on the plot and a lot of my ideas are formed from his suggestions. Thanks to PureGamer as well, I think you're the only one to review all three chapters so far, and when I was having writers problems you helped me out.

OK, now on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Pokemon belongs to their respective owners.

~ ~ ~ CHAPTER 4 ~ ~ ~

There was a flash of light quickly followed by a loud splash. Slowly a purplish being materialized from the light and haunting, maniacal laughter could be heard throughout the lake area and into the forest surrounding it as well, scaring away anything and everything whether they originated from Lavender Town in Kanto to Mt. Pyre in Hoenn.

The purplish creature finished materializing out of the Poke Ball and in all it's glory. The being was mostly purple, not solid or liquid, but not quite gas either. It also had vibrant green eyes and a creepy green smile to complete the package.

"TOMBBbbb..." the creature said eerily, which was now revealed to be a Spiritomb. It was very confused as to where it was or how it got there. 'And where is the one I serve, where is Carolina's Granddaughter?' the ghost type questioned internally., as it began searching around for the Sinnoh Champion. Only then he noticed his surroundings, which only served to add to his confusion. He was levitating above the center of a body of water, perhaps a lake, so he floated down towards the surface to get a better understanding of his situation. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary and not recognizing anything, he started towards the edge of the lake, when something caught his eye in the shallow part of the lake. 'Oh dear...' was the first thing that came to mind as he realized what it was.

His attention was directed towards a black and blond unmoving figure in the shallow water as if it had washed up from the deeper parts of the lake. Knowing who it was, he rushed to the figure who was cloaked in blood, which had systematically turned the surrounding water red. He almost grimaced at the troubling sight before him. There was his current trainer, laying there as the shallow tide lapped against her body softly. He could easily see that she was covered in wounds, ranging from lacerations, both long and short, to a particularly ugly wound that seemed to carry some type of small but sharp arrowhead. Looking at it he could easily see the entrance wound as well as the exit wound, but worse was the fact that it was sticking out from both wounds with its ends, effectively impaling the young woman. Closer observation revealed that, since she was on her side, he could see a nasty looking slash the ran diagonally down her back, starting from just underneath her left shoulder ranging to her right lower torso.

Spiritomb was very concerned and remorseful. He had seen the young woman in worse conditions before, but she was surrounded by allies at the time. As if it was bad enough that they were alone, her wounds were something that definitely worried him. He tried to form hands so he could move her, but realizing that he wasn't anchored stopped him from becoming physical*. He quickly bonded himself to a nearby stone that had also been washed up by the tide before turning back to help his companion. He attempted to carry her but on contact the woman let out a moan of anguish, and he elected to stop.

'What happened to you?' the ghost type wondered, deciding to look around to see the cause of her pain. He quickly discovered that, other than the blood coating Cynthia and the surrounding water, the lake looked untouched. 'No fight could've happened here.' he realized, still looking around. One half of the lake was surrounded by forest, and the other by a large mountainside that couldn't be climbed. Looking up he saw that there was a flat surface high up on the mountain, maybe 45 feet up or so. It then dawned on him 'The fight must've happened up there, and I guess she must've fallen into the lake. A fall that big must've knocked her out.' he concluded. But that didn't explain her wounds. He knew Cynthia was one of the best fighters on the planet. Carolina had sought to that by having her trained by her best student, the blue haired man with spiky hair. So what could've happened? Was she ambushed? Taken by surprise? Or maybe she met a fighter that was simply too much for her. But who could be that good? 'Her training is one of the most rigorous on-' he snapped out of his thoughts as he heard voices coming from the forest. They seemed to be nearby. He quickly made his way back to Cynthia, who unsurprisingly hadn't moved.

'What if they want to kill her? Maybe it's an organization like Team Rocket? Regardless I can't risk her being spotted by enemies.' he decided as he tried to wake her up. 'Hey! Get up! Mistress! Oh crap she isn't waking up. If only I had ice cream, that always works.' He quickly considered his remaining options. He could only cloak himself, and he couldn't cloak another being unless he was possessing that person. 'Wait! Maybe I should... no. I can't. Carolina made me swear to never possess another living being again!' but his previous master had told him that loyalty trumped everything else. He needed to save her life, but to break a vow... 'Screw it. This is a life or death scenario.' his decision made, Spiritomb released himself from his temporary anchor, not caring what happened to the small stone, and flew into Cynthia's body. Her eyes snapped open and she let out a choked cry, her back arching upwards as a purple hue came from her eyes. He let out an unconscious gasp before her body disappeared entirely.

Jordan had joined Team Galactic because he had nowhere else to go. After sexually harassing his well-endowed boss (at the time), he had been fired, and divorced soon after as his wife was furious that he had cheated on her. Team Galactic had been recruiting at the time, and he signed up so he wouldn't have to live on the streets. Not to say he didn't enjoy his work, on the contrary joining Team Galactic was the best decision he'd ever made. There was good pay, a place to call home, and not mention the rewards gained from completing missions. He sighed happily as he remembered the woman from Sunyshore that he had kidnapped during a recon mission. She wasn't involved at all, but seeing the busty receptionist in a white top that had just the right number of buttons undone, and he couldn't resist following her on her way home. He could still remember the feel of her lips when he forced himself in her mouth. He had threatened her family should she notify the cops when he was done with her, and she hadn't visited the police station at all when he showed her Team Galactic's symbol. The next day he returned to the base in Jubiliffe (which apparently was recently burned to the ground) with the intel, received his pay, and moved on with his life. But life wasn't always perfect, and this was one of those time when he realized his job had a downside. He sighed sadly as he continued watching the Houndoom and Mightyena sniff the dirt for the Sinnoh Champion's body. He was sent to "confirm the kill" as Saturn had put it. In other words, cleanup duty. Perfect.

"Hey Jordan," said a similarly dressed by slightly smaller man next to him, who was also scouting the trees. "Do you think Cyrus will reward us if we bring him her head?" he asked.

"No," Jordan sighed disappointingly, "Eric, it's gonna be Saturn that gets the reward. It always goes to one of those three." He knew that his partner knew who he was referring too. Eric was a lot smaller than the average man, but faster and smarter. Even though he was mostly an annoyance to Jordan, he was also just as entertaining. Eric was always on top of the rumors that spread around Team Galactic, no matter how crazy they were. He seemed to know every single one, and Jordan was fascinated hearing about some of the strange things his peers talked about.

"But," he said in a happier tone, immediately gaining the smaller man's attention. "If were the ones who bring her head to Saturn, there's no doubt he'll reward us after he turns it in to the boss and gets his reward." this seemed to brighten up Eric's day, and the next thirty seconds were spent in quiet, until Eric spoke up in a worried tone.

"We uh, we're not gonna actually cut her head off her body and bring it with us are we?" this got Jordan to roll his eyes.

"No moron, it's a figure of speech. Were gonna bring the whole body." he replied. Sometimes Eric could be really stupid. What was he thinking anyways? They weren't gonna just Ned Stark the Sinnoh Champion! Jordan involuntarily let out an annoyed sigh.

"Dude, what if she's alive?" said Eric. The taller man beside him stopped at this and pondered it. He hadn't been at the fight, but from what he'd heard from some people who did, the thought was enough to make him worry. 'I remember Sam said that she was moving so fast he could barely see her. And from the injuries that they had when they returned...' that alone was enough to tell him not to underestimate her, until he looked around and remembered why it was they were searching the forest surrounding the lake below the cliff, and not on the mountain itself.

"Heh don't worry. Sam said she was real beat up before she took a dive? Besides, there's no way she survived that fall." he said reassuringly. Eric wasn't completely convinced.

"I don't know man," the smaller man replied, "but I heard a rumor that she was trained to survive in harsh conditions. Besides, she's really athletic. Heh heh, really really athletic." Jordan smirked knowing where his friend's thoughts were. Not to say he hadn't been thinking about the beautiful Sinnoh Champion himself.

'She's so freakin hot. I hear she has some really nice curves. Mars got nothing on Cynthia!' He then closed his eyes and started fantasizing about the blonde woman, but was quickly brought out of his stupor when Eric spoke again.

"Speaking of weird rumors, wanna know what's been going around Saturn's division as of late? I've been hearing some strange things," he waited until he received a nod from his taller friend before continuing, "So apparently Saturn believes that the Champ used to be the boss' protege. I've heard that Saturn truly believes that Cynthia used to be the boss' student, and that's why she's so good at fighting." he said, turning to see that he fully had Jordan's attention.

"What?" said Jordan, who had been surprised by the intriguing theory. The last theory that Eric had told him about was that they were in a fake world that was dreamed up by a ten year old that got struck by lightning, so this was certainly an improvement.

Eric nodded. "People are talking about it. Some say that the boss did train the champ but apparently only Saturn believes it. But here's the strange part; I saw Beecher asking Saturn about it the other day, and Saturn didn't deny it. All he did was smile. Weird, right? What do you think about it?" he finished.

Jordan scoffed. "I used to be on guard duty to the boss' training room. I've seen the boss when he's training. The man is unstoppable and he knows it. I think Arceus himself may have trained him. He uses some sort of fancy martial art that apparently only he knows. He always uses some fancy staff that has a blade on the end. It's like a spear, but it's longer and more narrow. The blade on the end is also a lot sharper. Anyway, if he trained Cynthia, that would mean she's almost as good as he is. Boss would know that sending us after her would be suicide, and Boss would never do that any of his crew. So it couldn't have been him that trained Cynthia. And anyways, Saturn beat her, and Boss would crush Saturn in less than a minute. There's no way he trained her." he said as he looked over at his friend. Eric looked like he agreed with him. Another thought came up and Jordan shared it "besides, everyone already knows who trained the champ. It was her gra- what's that?" he asked as he pointed to a Houndoom that had clearly spotted something.

It was barking loudly, and all the other canines soon picked up the same scent and started barking as well. Both men took out their stun batons and ran through the clearing that dogs had gone through. All the Houndoom were now strangely quiet. As they came through the clearing they stumbled across an ocean of red.

"...Whoa..." was all that Jordan could say, clearly stunned, until he realized what the red lake meant. "See? Look at all that blood. There's no way she survived!" he said to his fellow employee beside him. Eric seemed to believe him, was than said something that made his blood run cold.

"But where's the body?" he countered, eyes never leaving the lake as he gazed upon it, trying to find the body. Jordan, however, just shrugged casually.

"It probably just sunk to the bottom of the lake. Let's just go and report this to Saturn, I don't like the feeling I get from this place. Eric agreed and as they walked away with the canines following he asked "Hey are their any other rumors about Cynthia? Like how big her rack is?"

Eric chuckled at that. "Unfortunately, no. But you've heard about that boy right? The one that's supposedly up on Mount Silver? It's an old Kanto legend." he continued when Jordan nodded, "right, well apparently the champ, err, former champ was the last person who talked to him. I heard somebody say that they kept contact until..." they continued talking about rumors all the way back to Team Galactic's camp.

Spiritomb waited until the man left before catapulting himself out of Cynthia's body, once again making it visible. He wasn't feeling right. Cynthia wasn't conscious so she couldn't feel the resulting pain from her injuries. Spiritomb, however, could feel every single thing when he took control, and it felt like every fiber in his being was on fire. To make matters worse, it turns out his blonde master had the toughest mental resistance he had ever experienced, and she wasn't even conscious. He knew without a doubt that nobody could try and take over her mind. When he took control, her subconscious realized that some outside force was trying to take over and attacked, trying to kick him out. He had managed to stay through sheer determination to save his friend. He glanced down at the woman, and winced when blood started dripping out of her nose. 'Side effects... whoops...'

Now how in the world could he save her? 'What's that lady that she used to take me too... Oh I remember! Nurse Joy! She can heal any type of Pokemon, and Pokemon have more advanced systems than humans! She can save her!' this was thrown in the dirt when he realized that he couldn't move her without causing her to whimper in agony, as if she was a newborn Vulpix pup that had been kicked. He carried her to a large nearby rock and laid her against it in a more comfortable manner. He knew he could never carry her all the way to a town while listening to her pain. It was hard enough moving her five feet! And besides, he had no clue how to far or even what direction the nearest town was. He didn't even know where they were! Not to mention moving her would likely cause her injuries to get worse. 'Maybe I can go and get help? No, I'm not leaving her unprotected in this state. Not to mention it'd take forever for those pea-brained flesh-lings to figure out that I'm not trying to hurt them, and even then it'd take too long for them to understand me.' Now out of ideas and hopeless, he did the closest thing to a sigh he could manage and decided to sit by her side to ensure she passed along peacefully. He almost wanted to cry. He had been passed down from master to apprentice for centuries, and this was the first time he failed one.

He heard noises close by, and realizing he didn't have the strength or the time to cloak her he decided to kill whoever was approaching. It was three humans and two Pokemon, they were chatting casually. The first was an excited looking girl holding a Piplup in her arms. Spiritomb was surprised when he saw that her hair was blue. 'Curious. I've only seen one person with blue hair.' shrugging it off he looked to the next person, who appeared to be a tall man who... didn't seem to open his eyes. At all. Ever. On the other side of the blue-haired young woman was a boy who appeared to be in his late teens. He had a familiar cap on and a Pikachu was on his shoulder, scouting it's surroundings as if it was looking for anyone that might be watching. Spiritomb realized that the Pikachu had detected him.

After a moment of silence, the trio getting closer and closer to the lake, Spiritomb was trying to figure out why the juvenile with the Pikachu seemed so familiar. After a couple moments he remembered, this was one of the guys who was watching his battle with that angry purple kid's Pokemon. He had beat all of them in one hit each. He remembered Cynthia talking to this man afterward. 'Maybe he's a friend of Cynthia's. At this point that's my last hope' he thought, as he made himself known.

It was a beautiful day so far for Dawn. The last week was completely peaceful. No problems, unless you count the couple trainers they met on the road that challenged them to battles. Things seemed to be looking up for the young woman and her friends, so when she saw what appeared to be a beautiful lake through the forest she excitedly suggested they go there for some relaxation, and they could let the Pokemon out as well. Ash and Brock agreed, and now they were steadily approaching a break in the forest that led to the clearing where the lake was. As they passed through the break in the trees, Dawn took in her surroundings. The lake was surrounded by trees as well as a very steep looking mountain that led up to a large cliff. Luckily that cliff was currently blocking the sun, caking the area in a warm and cozy shade.

Just as she was about to let out her Pokemon, all peace and calm was shattered by a mysterious purple being that materialized out of thin air with a chilling laugh. Dawn quickly summoned Buneary while Brock pulled out his custom made machete. Ash quickly pointed at the ground in front of him, and quickly his partner jumped off his shoulder, cheeks sparking and combat ready. The being, which was now revealed to be a Spiritomb, didn't attack. It almost seemed sad, and it simply turned and slowly floated towards a large rock that was just out of the reach of the tide. It passed the rock and turned around, looking at the side of the rock that they couldn't see.

"I... I think it wants us to follow it." said Dawn, curiosity forcing her to break the silence. Ash nodded, and the group followed, but maintained caution. The passed the rock and turned to see what Spiritomb was gazing at, and none could hold back the gasp of shock and horror at the sight before them.

Laying there was none other than the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia, who happened to be a friend of theirs. Except she didn't look like the champion you'd think of upon hearing the word. She wasn't standing proud, with one arm resting against her hip and one leg out. Cynthia was currently the opposite, she looked like she had been through hell. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be unconscious, but that didn't stop a pained expression from appearing on her face. Every few minutes she'd make a small sound that conveyed the agony she must've been put through. Her outfit was scarred and torn in some places, and covering her body were scratches, slashes, and other lacerations, as well as a number of other notable wounds. Cynthia was coated in blood and all the surrounding water was a dark red. They hadn't noticed before because of the shade covering the whole area. A small arrow was bolted through her side, likely between two ribs. She probably had even more injuries that weren't visible at the moment. Across one of her shoulders was a deep gash, the only relief was that she was still breathing.

"Oh my god..." said Dawn, her hands involuntarily covering her mouth in horror. The others' faces held similar expressions. The shock, horror, and surprise could be seen along with their gaping mouths and wide eyes. After a moment of shocked silence, Brock's medical instincts kicked in and he quickly rushed over to her side and began checking her pulse and preparing to clean out her wounds, while Ash and Dawn were aiding any way they could.

It definitely wasn't an easy process, but they managed to stabilize her blood loss enough to ensure she wouldn't bleed out. They began to clean out her wounds to make sure they weren't infected. Removing the crossbow bolt (Ash had recognized the design) embedded in her side was tricky, and the unconscious woman let out multiple cries of pain, making the process slower and harder, as nobody wanted to cause her any more pain. Eventually they got it out, and after cleaning out the wound Brock sewed it up along with the other wounds. After he sewed up the wound they found on her back, Brock safely determined that she wouldn't die from infection or blood loss, but she needed time to recover her strength, and it was just a matter of time before she woke. There was nothing they could do about her shattered ribs except make sure she kept still and wait for the body to undergo it's natural healing process.

Ash was setting up camp while Brock was stoking the fires and Dawn was grooming a flustered Piplup. He had already laid down tents and earlier they had moved Cynthia against a tree. Brock had removed all her weapons but left her coat on for warmth. It had only been a few hours since they found her and Brock remarked that half of her rib fractures were mostly healed, which was extremely abnormal. Ash reminded himself to ask her about it when she woke. He noticed many of the smaller cuts she had received had disappeared. The sun was setting and Spiritomb was wandering around the forest, and all of Cynthia's Poke Balls were accounted for. Ash had suggested opening them saying that they might be able to help, but the group decided that it was best to wait for her to wake up. Brock said to watch her carefully claiming that she had likely experienced trauma before being knocked out and might be confused when she awoke, which was another reason Brock had removed her weaponry. She had two interesting looking daggers that Ash wanted to study, even though he decided to ask Cynthia about them when she awoke. She also had a lot of throwing knives. The group was startled by a loud caw of a Skarmory that flew overhead, and soon Dawn brought Ash out of his thoughts.

"Ash, hey, look at Cynthia," she was almost whispering. Brock had heard and was also staring at the Champion. She appeared to be... having a seizure. She was shaking violently but strangely wasn't not making any sound.

"Don't go near her." Brock warned darkly. Ash looked at the older man skeptically but decided to trust his friends judgment, even though he thought they should try and hold her still. She still kept shaking for another thirty seconds before she stopped. Her head slumped down in front of her, and the constant spasms had repositioned her on her knees. Her head was still down, but two small daggers appeared in her hands. Had she been keeping them in her coat-arms? Ash's eyes widened when he saw her daggers flash dangerously in the remaining sunlight.

"Cynthia..." he questioned quietly as he reached for his stun baton. He got no answer from the Sinnoh Champion, but she slowly lifted her head until she was looking him straight in the eyes, causing him to recoil. She had an expressionless face on, but her iris' had turned from their sharp gray to a piercing red, which seemed to glow. She made no sound or movement as blood ran down her nose. Ash was really freaked out by this point, and it didn't help when she got to her feet, balancing herself as if she hadn't done so before. The strangest part was during the entire motion she maintained not only her almost-robotic face, but her eye contact with Ash, who was starting to feel sick.

"DIE!" she suddenly yelled in a voice that he couldn't recall the Sinnoh Champion ever using. And before he could blink, Cynthia attacked.

~ ~ ~ CHAPTER 4 END ~ ~ ~

AN/:* I don't think Spiritomb needs to be directly connected to that rock thing that they have. I believe that they can become ethereal at will and use the rock (or anything really) to solidify themselves should they want to.

This is AU, and so when Paul challenged Cynthia, she beat all his Pokemon with Spiritomb, NOT Garchomp.

This is likely the longest chapter I've ever written, and it took way to long as it is. I originally planned for this to be twice as long, but this is all I have. I have a few ideas for the plot but nothing actually written. I'm thinking about doing a time jump...

As I said before I can't take all the credit. LightningBlade49 didn't give me all the ideas, but the majority of them spawned from his suggestions. Therefore he deserves a huge thanks.

PureGamer has a community called 'Cynthia-Centered Stories', so if you love Cynthia as much as I do go see what it has to offer.

Also, I left an easter egg in this chapter, and if your involved in the Pokemon fandom hopefully you'll get it. Here's a hint: Ash's coma theory. Hopefully that won't give it away. It probably will, but regardless, tell me if you find it and I'll be sure to mention your name at the beginning of the next chapter.

So far we got 300+ views, but less than 10 reviews. I really want to know what you all think, whether you love, or hate it, I always try to respond to all PM's and reviews. All criticism accepted! Anything you think will help the story! Let me know!