Chapter 52 – Cynthia Part 1
The doors hissed open and the crowd went silent. They had been waiting longer than usual for the challenger to arrive, but now the moment was here. People sat looking down at the current Champion, still standing in the middle of the battlefield, eyes closed as though she was asleep on her feet.
Jill walked in, her massive Torterra behind her. They surveyed their surroundings with curiosity. Cynthia's room was so vastly different from the rooms further below. Up here, it was spartan. Floodlights from the ceiling lit up the room. Tiles of grey and white surrounded the battlefield. There was really no other decoration. From behind Cynthia, her dragon stirred, bringing itself upright to appraise Jill. Finally, as Jill stopped opposite the Champion, Cynthia opened her eye and looked up at Jill. A hush was still holding the crowd as the two woman faced one another.
"Jillian" Cynthia began with a smile. Jill's voice caught in her throat at the soft tone. "Before we battle, there is something I need to say first. I must thank you on behalf of the Sinnoh region for your help atop Mt. Cornet, as well as within the Distortion World. Without you none of us would be here!" At this the crowd began cheering. Jill was shocked and blushed while looking around. Cynthia was smiling more broadly as she watched her cousin. Finally holding up a hand, Cynthia brought the crowd back down.
"Together, you and your Pokemon have overcome every challenge you've faced, no matter how difficult. It mean's you have triumphed over evil and personal weaknesses as well. To be standing here before me, the power you have learned… I can feel it emanating off of you." Once more the crowd began roaring its approval. They knew what was coming next.
"Thank you Cynthia." The Champion nodded.
"You did not come here to talk however." Jill couldn't help but laugh at that. "Let us get on with why you have come then. As the Sinnoh League Champion, I accept your challenge!" The noise was thunderous, as the two woman shook hands. They walked over to their sides, with Caladan and Vervada staying behind for a few precious seconds. No one knew what passed between the two pokemon as they stood there, but an understanding was reached regardless. Caladan took his side just behind Jill, while Vervada stood behind Cynthia. It was an intimidating look on the Champion, her long black coat and hair piece matching the menacing dragon behind her. No matter what though, Jill knew she was ready.
As she walked back to her side, Jill spotted her mother, and her friends. She waved to them, getting an acknowledging wave back. Johanna looked worried but also proud. Barry was practically hovering out of his seat in anticipation. Lucas stoic but his knuckles were white in gripping the railing in front of him.
"You should be proud Johanna" Palmer said. The crowd's noise was beginning to ramp up as the challengers faced one another and the judge stepped forward. Jill's mother smiled at the Frontier Brain.
"I'm more proud of these kids than they know."
"Don't worry Mrs. Heart, we know!" Barry said laughing. Johanna couldn't help but laugh along as Barry's father shook his head.
"This is going to be something else" Flint said to the other Elites. All three nodded their agreement. The gym leaders were also present to Cynthia's right along with Professor Rowan.
"I remember facing Jill for her first gym badge" Roark noted. "She was impressive then, but that Torterra is something else now."
"Cynthia will show her some true power" Byron commented. Roark looked sideways at his father. The older gym leader looked back to explain. "Jill is powerful yes, and the Elites threw some good strategies at her. But there are few people around who can muster up the power that Cynthia has."
"You believe our Champion will prevail?" Volkner asked from Byron's other side.
"I think it's going to be close but that Garchomp hasn't seen defeat in over a decade. It's not about to start now."
"Jill has a Garchomp of her own" Lucian reminded everyone. It was perhaps Jill's scariest Pokemon as the Elites could well atest.
"It is now a matter of who is more in sync with their team" Bertha said with finality as the match finally began.
Cynthia released her first Pokemon, an odd looking rock. Jill narrowed her eyes, reminding herself that Cynthia's team had evolved slightly over the years. A dark mist began seeping out of the rock, reminding Jill which Pokemon this was. Taking one last breath, Jill selected her first Pokemon as well. Urim burst out in a bright light, infusing the area with a powerful glow. The mist seemed to shrink back from the light, coalescing into a swirling mass of green and purple. The Spiritomb was active. The Champions grey eyes had gone cold as the battle began.
"Relic, begin with dark pulse." The Spiritomb began gathering the darkness together, unleashing a beam of pure dark rings. Urim didn't need to be told what to do, shooting up into the air to avoid the dark pulse. Jill thought as quick as she ever had, knowing Cynthia would not let up on any pressure. Spiritomb was a completely different challenge than she had ever faced before. She was up against a ghost and dark type meaning none of her Pokemon had any super effective moves. However, it didn't feel like her opponent could move very quickly which lent the advantage to Urim.
"Urim, swoop low and use toxic!" The avian quickly banked and began coalescing purple globules on his wings. Urim came in fast and low, launching his attack just over the ghost as if doing a bombing run. Cynthia however, was not waiting around.
"Again" she commanded. Her Spiritomb quickly released another dark pulse, this time hitting not only Urim, but also most of the purple barbs. Cynthia's one visible eye narrowed slightly as she noticed three of the toxic blobs did in fact land on her partner. Urim was quick to take to the air once more, putting some distance between the two Pokemon.
The crowd was surprisingly quiet for this battle. The first few attacks almost felt like questing shots. As if these two women were simply taking the measure of one another. Cynthia's Spiritomb winced as it realized it had been poisoned.
"I think it's time Relic" Cynthia said quietly to her still stationary Pokemon. The part ghost smiled its spectral grin, unleashing both psychic and dark pulse. The psychic pulses started directing Urim directly into the oncoming dark pulse and the avian screeched as the dark type attack landed.
"Urim let's try multiple shadow ball!" Jill cried out. This battle was like a slowly revving engine. It felt like things were truly beginning now. Urim for his part, twisted in the air avoiding another stream of darkness, launching three jet black balls of shadow down upon the stationary ghost. A dark pulse blasted two of the shadow ball out of the sky, but the third one rained down hard. Jill felt elation briefly before seeing that spectral grin still upon the face of her opponent. An eerie screech seemed to fill the air, dredging up those memories of facing Fantina almost two years ago. Jill grit her teeth. She would not give in. Another dark pulse lashed out, lancing through the air just behind the glowing avian.
"Another psychic pulse!" Cynthia called out. The Spiritomb did not hesitate to respond. Glowing pulses filled the air as Urim expertly navigated the attacks. "Now!" Cynthia barked. Urim had banked once more, this time into the oncoming stream of darkness. Urim lost height, almost crashing into the deck of the battlefield, managing to hold on at the last moment. This also seemed like an opening to Jill's eyes.
"Quick, use air slash!" Urim righted himself, then sent a razor sharp blast of air at the stationary opponent. That eerie screech sounded out once more, but the gaseous vapour that seemed to make up the Spiritomb diminished and withdrew back into the stone it had been rooted to. Cynthia gave a wry grin as she withdrew her first PoKemon. Jill breathed out, shocked that this was simply the first fight. Urim glided back to her side.
"How are you feeling?" The avian seemed to be gulping in the air.
"I can keep going." Jill stared back across the field at her cousin, standing there calm as could be holding Jill's second opponent. The Pokeball was thrown and out burst a replica of Urim. Cynthia's Togekiss was slightly larger, but its glow infused the stadium in a way Urim's couldn't after his battle. Jill placed a hand on Urim, holding him back from taking to the skies. The avian looked at his trainer, understanding this was someone else's fight.
"Chase you're up!" Jill released her electric type. Chase shook his head roaring as he came out of his ball. A quick appraisal of the battlefield showed Chase his opponent was a flying type.
"I never get the easy assignments" the lynx growled.
"I thought you liked these!" Jill fired back with a smile. The lynx bared his fangs in a grin at his trainer.
"Oh sure leave it to Chase. You're lucky I like you Blue!" Chase bound into the middle of the field, and lowered himself into a hunting pounce.
Cynthia smiled to herself. Jill's Togekiss was powerful, but it was Cynthia's turn to showcase what the happiness Pokemon could do. Attacks were ordered by both women in quick succession, Cynthia calling shock wave while Jill cried out to use spark. Oberon proved to be too high for the electric type, though both he and Cynthia were slightly surprised at how high the electric type had jumped for his attack. Cynthia knew they would need to keep it grounded if they were to win this battle. It was for this reason Oberon knew attacks which always struck home. True they weren't as powerful, but it allowed the flying type to stay above their opponents. Distance attacks were easier to avoid after all.
"Time to wrap this up Oberon. Aura sphere." Cynthia saw her cousin tense up across from her. She must know this attack never missed, and the Luxray was no where close enough to do any damage.
"Chase, use spark on yourself to charge up!" Cynthia frowned, wondering what the younger woman was up to. The Luxray grit its teeth as the aura sphere attacks hit home. Cynthia was begrudgingly impressed that it withstood the aerial attack.
"Now get as close as you can and let loose!" Jill cried out again. Once more the lynx jumped astonishingly high, high enough to get within striking distance for its charged-up spark attack. Oberon cried out in pain as the electric attack lanced through him. It was Cynthia's turn to grit her teeth, seeing the tell-tale muscle twitch. Cynthia quickly recalled Oberon, and hesitated for a fraction of a second before sending out her replacement.
The crowd erupted. Jill was frozen, not expecting what she was seeing just yet. It was too early! Yet here was Cynthia's most powerful Pokemon, her Garchomp, Vervada. The dragon roared, it's voice drowning out everything else. Jill was shocked, seeing it up close for the first time in over a year. Vervada was larger than Sphyrna, an embodiment of everything Garchomp were supposed to be. Jill's brain began moving again, recalling Chase before the dragon could do any damage to him.
"You think it seems too early to bring out Vervada." Cynthia seemed to be reading Jill's mind. There was a small smile playing at the Champions lips. "Everyone here is surprised as well. But my bond with Vervada is just as strong as it is with your team. Do you think you're ready?" Jill could only just nod along. It was time to test strategy.
"Urim you're back up!" Jill said releasing her flying type once more. Urim's cry was quickly overrun by the Garchomp's responding roar. Urim lifted off quickly, putting some distance between him and the dragon. Cynthia threw her hand out, releasing Vervada to attack. The dragon rushed in with astonishing speed.
"Toxic!" Jill called out again.
"Flamethrower!" Cynthia's command was just as fast. Vervada unleashed a withering torrent of fire, completely eradicating the toxic barbs that were fired at it. The Garchomp went low to the ground, attempting to get around the flying type. Urim banked hard, keeping Vervada in his sights. Jill was frowning, realizing that Cynthia's ace was too fast for Urim alone. And if the dragon was faster, poisoning it would be far more difficult. Jill was watching closely, realizing that Sphyrna was a good template to follow. Garchomp were similar in their attacking and readiness.
"Urim, up now!" Jill yelled out. The Garchomp had pounced at that moment. Urim gave a mighty flap, gathering height just staying out of the reach of the approaching dragon. Jill sighed in relief that the dragon rush attack didn't connect. She wasn't sure Urim had enough left to handle that kind of a strike.
"Quick before it lands, use air slash!" Urim beat down with his wings once more, scoring a hit on the dragons scales. The Garchomp gave a screech in pain as it landed. Urim was diving down to launch another attack, but suddenly the Garchomp was enveloped in red light. Jill grimaced as Cynthia withdrew her ace, sending out instead her Lucario.
"Stone edge!" Cynthia called out before Lucario was even fully materialized. The earth broke free and lanced up, connecting with Urim's wing who was a fraction too slow to spin out of the way.
"Urim!" Jill cried out as her avian screeched out in pain. The young woman quickly returned her flying type making a quick decision to bring out her fire type instead. Epona reared, snorting as she landed. Jill did not waste time in attacking, just as Cynthia had done. The younger woman now realized that Cynthia had sent out her Garchomp as a feint. Something to throw Jill off, because why would you use your ace so quickly into the match. However, the strategy had paid off as Urim was now probably out of this fight, just as Cynthia's Togekiss and Spiritomb were.
Cynthia's Lucario was fast however. It dodged the first fire blast, and used stone edge to shield itself from a second. Cynthia had that hard look in her eye and her fighting type moved in. Jill cried out with Epona as the equine was knocked off her feet. Yet another red light lanced out across the battlefield, and with it a momentary lull. Jill was breathing heavily. The intensity of this match had reached a level she had never experienced before.