The Champion's Protégé

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

*Present Time Somewhere on Mt. Silver*

    “Pikachu, use thunderbolt on that boulder!” shouted Ash.

    “Pika!” said Pikachu as he let loose a blast of electricity so powerful it shattered the boulder to bits.

    “Good job Pikachu, that’s twenty boulders in a row, new record buddy!” said Ash.

    “Pika,” squealed the little mouse in tired delight.

    “I think we’ll work on your speed next time, but come on, let’s go check up on everyone else now,” said Ash. Pikachu gave a little “Pika” in agreement and climbed onto his usual resting spot on Ash’s shoulder.

    Ash walked down a worn out path back towards his self-made base camp where he’d been living and training with his pokemon for the past year. As he walked down the familiar path, he started to think about the reason that he decided to leave his friends and family and train in the mountains for the past year- Tobias. That one name brought up a lot of feelings in Ash. On the one hand, he was amazed at Tobias’s strength. He was a very powerful trainer with lots of powerful pokemon. He had a lot of respect for Tobias as a pokemon trainer, but as a person, he felt Tobias was too arrogant and had too much of a condescending attitude. Understandable, considering Tobias’s strength, but it still rubbed Ash the wrong way. He remembered back to that day when he lost his semi-finals match to Tobias and how he almost gave up on his dreams. He remembered that night when his whole life changed, when that one person saved him from despair, who gave him a new goal to work towards, who has been helping him and his pokemon train and get stronger for the past year, his mentor and closest friend, the Sinnoh Champion- Cynthia Shirone.

*Flashback To A Year Ago, The Night After The Sinnoh League Finals*

    Ash sat at the edge of Lake Valor, reminiscing about his Sinnoh journey. His friends and all his pokemon were sleeping in the Pokemon center. He had gone out for a midnight stroll alone, not even taking Pikachu with him, then decided to sit on a rock overlooking the lake. He started to remember all the fun times he’d had in Sinnoh with Brock and Dawn, all the adventures they’d gone on together, all the times they’d shared, meeting all sorts of people and pokemon alike. He remembered the first time he met Paul. Arceus, he had hated that kid when they first met! But now they were friends, they’d been through a lot together, had many battles together, and had come to an understanding. He smirked as he remembered how tough of a battle Paul had when he challenged the Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia- Cynthia! That name also brought up a lot of feelings in Ash. He liked Cynthia, he respected her. She was strong, confident, a powerful trainer, and very beautiful. ‘I wonder what Cynthia is doing right now? She probably thought I was pathetic in my battle against Tobias,’ Ash thought, quoting a certain purple-haired rival of his as a frown crept on to his face. ‘I only managed to take down two of his pokemon! Just two!’

    All of the sudden, he felt a soft hand touch his shoulder. He had turned around and looked up to see a young blonde woman smiling at him.

    “C-C-C-Cynthia! W-w-what are you doing here?” stammered Ash as he stood up to face her.

“I wanted to talk to you Ash, is that alright with you?” asked Cynthia sweetly.

    “Of- of course, here, please sit,” said Ash nervously, motioning with his hands for her to use the rock he had just been sitting on.

“Thank you Ash,” said Cynthia. She sat down on the rock and extended her legs out, put her arms behind her for support, and started staring up at the sky.