He was twitching on the leather chair that suddenly felt rather uncomfortable to him. His eyes switched back and forth between the magnificently red carpet, the awe-inspiringly large ebony desk and Steven's friendly, but serious face. He must have inherited his negotiation skills from his father, Magnus thought.
"Don't worry", Steven interrupted his thoughts, "I told you it's not particularly urgent. Think about my offer and tell me your answer in due time."
Magnus shook the Champion's hand, knowing that Steven expected nothing but a "Yes" from his former student. He gulped as he walked through the enormous hallways of Devon's headquarters. Sure, he had already experienced quite a lot in his young career as a trainer. And enough time had passed since the Distortion World so that he felt ready for something new – but this? Absent-mindedly, his fingers played with the rainbow-coloured sphere on his new bracelet. Was it just a gift or a bribe? Finally, he exited the building and stumbled onto Rustboro's streets. Before he could rack his brain any further, his PokéNav rang. He gladly took the opportunity to distract himself from Steven's offer, but when he checked his screen, he raised an eyebrow. A new message from Cynthia. It had been a long while since their last call and an even longer while since they last met in Celestic Town.
Hi Magnus, how are you? You're still in Hoenn, aren't you? I'll stay in Slateport for the next couple of days. Any chance we'll meet here?
# # # # #
The taste of salt water was still dancing on his tongue long after he had left the warm sea. He didn't bother to dry his hair – Hoenn's sunshine would take care of that. As he changed into the sportswear he always used to wear on Slateport's cycling trail, he couldn't help but admit that diving into the ocean hadn't really managed to calm him down. Sure, he was excited to see her again – hadn't he looked forward to this day for a long while? – but glimpses of dark memories also struck his mind every now and then. He sighed and strapped on the belt with his Pokéballs to his hips. While slowly strolling towards Slateport's city centre, he tried to think about a clever way to greet Cynthia. After all this time, shouldn't he come up with something more than "Hi"? Just as he thought he might have something on the tip of his tongue, a familiar voice interrupted his train of thoughts.
"Magnus?" asked the wide-eyed Sinnoh Champion.
"Uhm, yes. Hi", he stuttered and cursed himself. He should have been able to recognise her long hair from a mile away, but without her all-too-familiar black coat, his eyes had missed her.
"I barely recognised you", Cynthia said with a smile and if Magnus hadn't been so surprised, he might have noted an unusual shimmer in her grey eyes.
"Me neither", he said and pointed at her blue blouse, "I didn't even know you owned such clothes."
"I didn't", she laughed, "I've recently been to Unova and, well, it was almost as warm as here in Hoenn, so my wardrobe needed a change."
She eyed him from head to toe. Sure, in tropical Hoenn even he had to wear less winterly clothes, but she didn't expect him to be in skin-tight biker shorts and a tank top. She couldn't help herself but notice the muscular legs sticking out of his shorts. The once neatly ordered dark-teal hair had grown almost to shoulder length and his ascetically slender face had been sprinkled with beard stubbles, just enough to immediately make him look at least five years older than before. Suddenly, Cynthia wondered if he actually was only 20 years old or if she just had never asked him his age.
"But you haven't just changed your outfit, right?" she asked.
"What do you mean?", Magnus replied and Cynthia tried her best not to giggle at his cluelessness.
"By the way, why did you come to Hoenn?"
"Steven invited me to meet him at the Slateport Harbour Festival", she pointed at one of the big advertisements for this festival. Magnus gulped, remembering the last conversation with his mentor, but made no objection and followed her to the main market square. His eyes glanced over a booth with loads of old brass instruments at a discount, but they quickly walked past it. The large crowd of people meant that the Hoenn Champion had to be nearby.
"Ah, there you are!" Steven greeted his Sinnoh colleague with a formal handshake before noticing Magnus behind her, "I didn't expect to see you again so quickly!"
The crowd started to get agitated as more and more people realised that two Champions were present right now. Steven ignored them and instead took a small black casket out of his briefcase.
"Just as I promised", he said as he handed it over to Cynthia. She briefly opened it and Magnus could see the familiar rainbow-like glimmer on the jewel inside of it before she closed it again and stored it safely in her bag.
"I'm looking forward to try it out", she replied with a smile.
"Show fight!" shouted one middle-aged man from the crowd and others started to chant "Show fight! Show fight! Show fight!"
"I'm sorry", Steven shouted at the crowd and Magnus noted how he could barely hide how much the Champion enjoyed the spotlight for what might have been Steven's last time, "But there's a code of honour between Champions not to have any unofficial battles!"
"That's true", Cynthia smirked and patted Magnus on the shoulder, "But can't I nominate someone else to take my place?"
"Ah!", Steven said and wondered if this had all been planned in advance by (the in fact utterly surprised) Magnus. With Cynthia's firm hand on his back, Magnus felt like he had no other choice than saying: "Alright, how about a One-vs-One match?"
Steven smirked.
"Show me what kind of steel the next generation of Pokémon trainers is made of!"
# # # # #
The crowd quickly made way to give them some space for a battlefield, eagerly expecting their Champion's next victory. As Steven sent out his Metagross, Magnus chose his Garchomp and noticed a bracelet with a gemstone on one of Metagross's legs. "He really doesn't want to go easy on me, huh?" Magnus thought.
"Meteor Mash!" – "Evade and Flamethrower!"
Metagross's arm was covered in a silvery light, but the punch only grazed Garchomp's fins, whose Fire attack, however, didn't deal as much damage as Magnus had hoped. Steven's Metagross must be really bulky.
"Bullet Punch!" – "Fire Fang!"
Metagross quickly jumped forward and a series of light, but impactful punches hit Garchomp's torso until the Dragon-Type's burning jaws could catch his opponent's left arm. The only thing worse than the stench of molten steel was the screeching sound of sharp teeth scratching over metal. After a short deadlock, Metagross roared out in pain and the crowd went silent. Steven ordered an Ice Punch. Of course, Magnus couldn't allow his Garchomp to take such a super effective hit and told him to gain some distance. Steven's Pokémon had gotten a valuable moment of relief and he touched the shiny orb on his newest ring.
"Let me show you the power of my beloved minerals!" Light in all kinds of colours emerged from his ring and from the gauntlet on Metagross's leg. Cynthia stared in excitement at the Champion's Pokémon. That was exactly the kind of battle she came here for! The crowd went absolutely crazy as they witnessed Metagross growing four additional legs, starting to levitate in the air and stretching its four old legs into large claws, ready to slash any opponent.
"Ice Punch!"
Metagross rushed forward at the speed of a rocket, but Garchomp ever so slightly jumped away from its frozen claws. The impact buried Metagross's left claws deep in the ground and Magnus saw a perfect opportunity: "Earthquake!" Before Metagross had any chance to free itself, it was struck by the shaking ground. Even the laypeople in the crowd could see that its left arms had been severely injured.
"Stay on its left!" shouted Magnus and just as he expected, Metagross could no longer move its left arms fast enough to hit Garchomp. He landed one Flamethrower, then another. "Bullet Punch!" That was too fast, of course, to avoid. But, as both Magnus and Steven noticed, also too weak to pose any serious threat to Garchomp. Steven clenched his teeth, but not in anger: This fight was just what he hoped to get from his student! However, he wasn't planning to lose today. He looked left and right. The crowd was far enough away.
"Let's end this as a spectacle!" he shouted and opened his arms as if he were a showman, "Explosion!"
"Garchomp, cover!" Magnus shouted desperately, but white light started to surround Metagross's body. One deafening sound later, both Garchomp and Metagross – back in its original form – lay unconscious on the ground. The crowd stared in silence at the battlefield. A draw. After a moment of silence, Cynthia started to clap and crowd burst into cheers.
"Well done", she patted Magnus on his back and he started to blush, "A tie against a Champion's ace is quite something!"
"I'm impressed!", Steven added and started to wiggle his finger, "But remember that this was only a show fight. The real battle still lies ahead of you!"
Magnus just nodded. He was still too agitated from this fight to form any coherent sentences.
"Unfortunately, I've got to return to Devon's headquarters. Champion's business."
"Oh, I know that feeling all too well", said Cynthia.
"Have fun with your new toy!" Steven pointed at Cynthia's black casket and said goodbye to them before jumping onto his Skarmory.
"I think", Magnus panted, "I need a break after that battle..."
# # # # #
He suggested to visit Slateport's Oceanic Museum. "I've been there a lot as a child", he admitted and Cynthia smiled noticing he felt slightly embarrassed to talk about his childhood, "And there've always been new things in the exhibitions to see."
They strolled through the museum and the Champion actually started to enjoy playing with the little hydrodynamic models which showed the effect of the tides or simulated a storm surge. She almost giggled like a little girl when she controlled the tides in this miniature world by pulling a lever. However, her attention was suddenly drawn to a beautiful old piano. Its dark wood was decorated with delicately engraved sailing ships and Gyaradoses.
"It's nice, isn't it?" Magnus said after noticing that her eyes were fixed on the instrument.
"I used to play the piano as a child", she reminisced.
"You want to try it here?"
She looked at him wide-eyed.
"Everyone's allowed to play it", he said and pointed at a sign next to the piano. Instinctively, Cynthia sat down and took a breath. She didn't even have to think about what she was going to play. As soon as her fingers started to jump over the piano's keyboard, a flow of emotions hit Magnus. He had never heard this meldody before – maybe it was some traditional Sinnoh music? – and the tension of its energy filled the air. A strange mixture of exhilarating joy and painful melancholy overwhelmed him. Finally, the last note of the music subsided, but he still stood in awe.
"How was it?", Cynthia looked over her shoulder, asked him and added nonchalantly "I haven't played in ages, but I think it was still pretty alright, wasn't it?"
Magnus was still taken aback by her music and even though he wanted to say something like "It was breathtaking", he only managed to mumble "pretty good", but she nevertheless seemed to be pleased by his response. She looked at the music score placed onto the piano. Traditional Shanty Music (Adapted from Kanto sailors).
"This one needs a trumpet", she remarked.
"Yeah", he had finally collected his thoughts again, "The trumpet is pretty much Hoenn's favourite instrument."
"Do you know how to play it?"
"Sure", he answered, "But I don't think they've got one here."
"What a shame", she mumbled.
"Wait a minute", he suddenly said and bolted out of the museum, "Just stay here for a moment!"
He ran back to the Harbour Festival and needed just a few seconds to spot the booth with the old instruments. When he returned to the museum, he held an old, but still usable trumpet in his hand.
"You really wanna do a duet?" she asked and he nodded. They just had a single set of sheet music and to read them, Magnus had to stand so close behind her that her hair was brushing over the skin of his legs.
"Ready?" she asked.
"Ready!"
Beat by beat, their eyes flew over the sheets. Cynthia started with a short upbeat prelude before playing a slightly slower motif while he only added a chord every now and then. Afterwards, it was his time to play the motif and her soft piano tunes only accompanied his brass music. His heart started to beat faster and faster as he was inching closer to the trumpet solo. When he began the fortissimo, all eyes of the other visitors were on him, but he was so engulfed in their duet that he couldn't have noticed them. After their last chord had faded into silence, Cynthia looked over her shoulder and nodded at him with a smile.
# # # # #
After waiting an eternity for Cynthia to choose an ice cream flavour, they sat down on a bench at the lighthouse.
"You know", Cynthia said, "I'm glad you seem to be feeling better again."
"Me too."
"Can I ask you something?"
He nodded.
"Well, it's actually two things", she said and took a deep breath, "First, can you meet me in Jubilife City in three weeks?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"I'll be staying there for a couple of days and need some company."
"Sure", he answered, though slightly confused, "And the second question?"
"Do you feel ready for a new challenge?"
He tried to avoid her eyes.
"I guess I do", Magnus answered, involuntarily thinking about his discussion with Steven. Had Steven consulted her beforehand?
"That's good to hear", she said and smiled, "You know, after Agatha resigned from the Indigo Plateau, Bertha has started to talk about her retirement from our League."
Magnus gulped. He didn't like where this was going.
"I'd like you to replace her and join Sinnoh's Elite Four."
He sighed. That made things just even more complicated.
"You don't seem particularly thrilled about this offer, do you?" she added with a smile.
"I feel honoured", he said, "But, well... I also had a discussion with Steven. His dad's not getting any younger and Steven will soon replace him as the leader of Devon."
"And Hoenn will need a new Champion?"
"Yes."
There was a moment of silence between them.
"To be honest, I always thought he'd be succeeded by Wallace", Cynthia thought out loud.
"That's kinda true", Magnus said and she raised an eyebrow.
"It's complicated", he scratched his head and started to explain, "The rules of the Hoenn League do not allow the Champion to hand-pick a successor. The title of Champion must be won in a match. If the current Champion resigns, he must suggest two suitable candidates who will fight over his succession."
"I see", she said, "So you'll face off Wallace."
"I'm not sure", he continued, "I don't know if I'm ready to be a Champion –"
"You're certainly strong enough", she interrupted him. He blushed and she added with a grin, "At least strong enough for Hoenn's championship. Sinnoh's Champions are, of course, on another level."
"But strength isn't everything, right?"
"I've also become Champion at a young age", she explained, "And back then, Bertha's experience was extremely valuable while I still had to get comfortable in my new role. I'm sure Drake will also offer you some guidance."
"I'm not sure if I should stay here in Hoenn", he replied after some time.
He paused again for a moment.
"When Steven offered me this chance, I was wondering if I am still enough of a son of Hoenn to take this position. A Champion should be deeply rooted in his region – but right now, I feel torn between Hoenn and Sinnoh", he sighed, "And your offer doesn't make my decision any easier."
"So you haven't agreed to the match against Wallace?"
"Not yet."
"Then I don't want you to rush your decision", she said and stood up from the bench, "Take your time and think about Steven's and my offers. Don't worry. I don't expect you to have made up your mind when we'll meet again in Jubilife. It's an important decision in your life – think carefully about it."
Author's Notes
Our story enters its final third – and I thank everyone who has been following along so far! As a (not too difficult question): Can you guess which music was played during this chapter?