Pokémon: A Promised Journey

Chapter Four: The Gap

'Thanks to these pesky battle-crazed fan reporters.....me and my Pokémon are about to get ourselves whopped..' Throwing a few mental curses and swears around, Xavier took his position opposite to Cynthia with his pokéball in hand. 'She is the damn champion here!'

He observed her every moment, comparing her to the past Cynthia with whom he had met in Kanto. She had changed a lot and now a different air of authority around her. She was even more composed and collected even while addressing the mass of people gathered around for the rare spectacle of seeing their beloved Champion battle in the open, that too live!

"Glaceon, battle station!"

"Overcome all hurdles, Growlithe!"

From Cynthia's pokéball emerged her dutiful Ice-type covered in light-blue fur, with long, pointed ears, dark eyes and a small nose. A teal crest with two dangling flaps adorned his head resembling a headgear. 

Her opponent who seemed to hold the advantage when weighed on types, barked upon his arrival on the field. He was a canine with orange fur decorated with black stripes running around his back and legs. The fur on his nuzzle, chest, belly and tail is of beige coloration and is extra fluffy. His gray eyes stared deep into the eyes of the foe, though his action was not returned.

Glaceon for some reason was more focused on Growlithe's trainer. His expressions showed as if he had seen him somewhere. No one paid heed to that for now. The hype of battle was too obvious.

"That was an amazing launch-phrase." Cynthia complimented.

Launch-phrases are those which trainers tend to come up with when launching their pokéballs to release their Pokémon for battling or even for contests. It has no ulterior motive or significance but is more like a trend among the trainers. There was no trainer who didn't use a launch phrase, either of their own creation or copy someone famous.

"Purely original creation." Xavier replied. HIs eyes then traveled down to meet the lingering gaze of the Ice-type Pokémon. 'What's with the curious gaze?'

"Glaceon, the Fresh Snow Pokémon. By controlling its body heat, it can freeze the atmosphere around it to make a diamond-dust flurry."

"Growlithe, the Puppy Pokémon. A Pokémon with loyal nature. It will remain motionless until it is given an order by its trainer."

"Wait! You have a Pokédex too?" Xavier seemed surprised seeing the familiar red, cuboidal device in Cynthia's hands. It was his first team seeing a regional Champion owning a Pokédex.

 The only difference between their Pokédexes was that Cynthia's was rather old compared to Xavier's.

"Why not? A few years I went on a journey around Sinnoh too, under Professor Rowan." Cynthia explained, sliding the device back into the pockets of her coat. "I was given a Pokédex that time and decided to keep it as a memento."

The two trainers then noticed that the crowd was rather getting a little antsy and impatient from the chit-chat between the two and lack of action. It would seem they are too much excited to see the battle prowess of their champion live, which isn't something you get to see everyday.

"Let's no keep the crowd waiting." Xavier pointed his left thumb to the people around them before motioned at Cynthia. "Ladies first."

"My, what a gentleman." Cynthia giggled before snapping her fingers. Glaceon was alerted and soon took his stance for attacking. Growlithe mimicked his actions. "Icy Wind!"

Doing a reverse somersault in the air after a jump, Glaceon inhaled before releasing a gust of ice cold wind towards the Fire-type. Even Xavier the shivers from the attack right away, showing him the difference between the two of them right off the bat. Not that, he was going to back down from just this.