- Vagabond - Male Reader x Pokémon

Chapter 22: Killing Me Softly

[Jubilife Pokémon Centre...]

Cynthia was awoken from her slumber with a booming noise from outside, and a loud chatter racing past her room. What was going on? She thought to herself, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Gible seemed to hear the commotion too, pulling herself up from the floor. "Gib?" Her partner asked. "I-I don't know..." The voices outside her room seemed scared and confused.

A quick glimpse at the room's clock told her that it was one in the morning, the dead of night.

What could've possibly been going on at such an hour to cause such an upset?

Wearing only her pyjamas she anxiously left her room, Gible waddling after her. Her eyes fell upon the room next to her, where [Y/N] was supposed to be staying, but she had never heard him return that night. Rather, it looked like the door hadn't even been interacted with at all.

Cynthia grew slightly more worried but ignored the negative thoughts for now, [Y/N] was probably fine, he was smart and knew how to get himself out of any situation, she was sure!

"Cynthia, the fighting woke you up too?" A familiar voice called out to her from the end of the corridor and she quickly found her new travelling companions, Lucian and Flint, racing down the hall towards her. "I just got up, what's wrong?"

Flint seemed full of energy, pumped up for some reason. "It's crazy! Nobody's really sure but the news are sayin' it's all gone to shit in East Jubilife, full on warzone!" Cynthia closed her eyes, not sure she heard what he said correctly. "He's speaking the truth..." Lucian nodded, a seriousness to his look, and he gestured for her to follow. "Apparently there is a live-broadcast going on right now, we were going to see what all the ruckus was about."

She threw one more glance towards [Y/N]'s room, Flint's word making her slightly more nervous. Now she had to know what was going on. "Alright, let's go." Cynthia nodded and the three trainers made their way down to the lower lounge area...

"--Breaking news, Jubilife City! There's a war on the streets as our own Elite Four, Silas and Argenta, alongside the International Police, face off against Team Rocket! Information is still scarce but from our sources, we understand this to be an impromptu raid on the criminal organisation's seat of power in the region. Exclusive footage of the events from up high coming to you all now! --" There must have been nearly a hundred people, all trainers of varying ages, gathered around the television, watching entire neighbourhoods go up in flames, buildings charred and leaking smoke, streets destroyed and torn apart.

"W-When did all of this start?" Cynthia stuttered out, still trying to register everything that was going on, and once more, [Y/N] was nowhere to be seen. "We only got up a little earlier than you, maybe half-an-hour, something like that." Flint said, hands firmly dug into his baggy pants. Another explosion rocked the street on the television screen, this wasn't just some small skirmish, this was two Elite Four members in action, and their enemy had to number in the hundreds at least...

"W-Why is this happening?" A trainer mumbled out amongst the crowd, watching on with sheer and unadulterated terror. "T-This is crazy!" Another said, with a similar face, and quickly the entire crowd was muttering their own small piece. They were trying to become trainers, but if that entailed fighting against people like Team Rocket, then maybe becoming a trainer wasn't what they wanted. It wasn't just some fun adventure, it was life and death. And, this didn't go unnoticed by Cynthia, Lucian and Flint, who stood towards the back.

"They are terrified." Lucian said with a stern look. "It is so obvious. They see all this on the news and their confidence is shaken completely." He pushed up his glasses. Flint shook his head. "If they're scared off so easily then maybe they ain't supposed to be trainers in the first place, you get what I'm sayin'?" He said. However, Sinnoh wasn't in the position to be simply allowing trainers to leave the profession, with constant dwindling numbers, they needed more trainers!