Pokémon: Lost in the Moment

Chapter 6 - One Last Time

I stood waiting patiently outside with my Pokémon surrounding me, somewhat harkening back to the first time I faced Cynthia, only this time with all of my Pokémon. Then, after a few minutes had passed, Cynthia stepped from out of her house and guided me to a location which was suitable for us to battle at. It was just in the centre of Celestic Town, where a shrine to Pokémon of old used to be situated, but had since been removed for reasons that, to this day, I can only assume. That didn't matter to me at the moment, however, as my battle against Cynthia was about to commence.

She threw out her first Pokémon, Spiritomb. Appropriately enough, Spiritomb was also the first Pokémon she opened with in our original battle, so it was a pleasant call-back of sorts. I then sent out my first Pokémon, Vaporeon. Before the battle started though, Cynthia spoke up: "That day. The day when I accepted your challenge, the day you became the new champion of the Sinnoh Region, I saw a spark in your eye, a glint. I looked for that same spark in every subsequent trainer since I took to defend your spot as Pokemon, but I was unsuccessful... until recently. A trainer by the name of "Dawn", she had that same glint. Ten years... Ten years it took me to find another trainer like you, so don't let me down now, show me that you still have that spark!"

Taking every word of hers into account, I simply nodded and said: "I will do my best. And please, don't hold back!" She smiled in acknowledgement, before declaring a start to the battle.

Cynthia immediately started out strong by calling for her Spiritomb to launch a Shadow Ball my Vaporeon's way. Of course, I called for my Vaporeon to dodge it and then to use an Ice Beam, to which she did, dealing considerable damage. I then immediately called her back to my side, just in case Cynthia has something up her sleeve, but... She just stood there, looking on. A moment later, she returned Spiritomb to its Pokeball, before calling out what used to be her trump card, Garchomp.

Garchomp was always Cynthia's strongest Pokémon, often being the only Pokémon she had to send out to defend her title, even against the Elite Four, back when she was champion. However, when Garchomp was sent out, I noticed something in its eyes: Sadness. I was... lost for words. Not only had Cynthia been overtaken with hopelessness, but her Pokémon too. This... was troubling for me. The more I thought about, the tenser I got. "Have my Pokémon over the years become hopeless too?" "Did I capture them, giving them hope of a great new life, only for them to reflect how I was feeling... and lie to them?" These types of thoughts raced through my mind, clouding my judgement once more.

Cynthia, seeing I was looking up at her with a troubled look on my face, averted her gaze as quickly as she could, turning her attention to the full moon in the sky. "You've realised something, haven't you?" She asked. I was still thinking hard about the conclusions I had come to, so much that I didn't even hear her. "You can tell how my Pokémon are feeling, right? That's quite impressive. Usually, it's impossible to tell what another trainer's Pokémon are feeling because they aren't your own." I looked up, finally hearing what she was saying. Cynthia then walked up to her Garchomp, petting hit, before it cuddled up against her. She then threw out the rest of her Pokémon team: Spiritomb, again, Roserade, Togekiss, Lucario, and Milotic.

She then went on to say: "All of my Pokémon here, they've all felt the burden of my own failures over the years, something of which I wish they didn't have to share with me. But... That's just how life is. Your closest friends will have to bear those burdens sometimes, there are no two ways about it..." She paused for what felt like minutes after saying that, but eventually, she spoke up again. "My primary motivation for becoming champion was the hope to see brand new trainers rise up through the ranks and find their way in life... I've had two instances of that because I've only been beaten twice in battle. First by you, and then by your friend, Dawn. You two have great potential, more than I ever did..." Cynthia looks back at her Pokémon who are listening intently but with sad expressions, and then she looked back at me and my Pokémon.

"You're twenty, correct?" "That's right. It was ten years ago that I started my Pokémon journey." I responded, candidly. Cynthia looked down to her right for a few seconds, before looking back up at me with a meek, but somehow genuine smile. "It's okay to be lost in your life right now. It's... not okay to be lost at my age, but this isn't about me. You have so many good years ahead of you. There will be bad ones, maybe you're experiencing one now, but without bad times, there can't be good times." I was already taking in everything Cynthia was saying, but what she just said hit me much harder.

"She is right, you know." A mysterious voice called out to me, but as soon as I turned around to see, I figured out who it was, Dawn. I wasn't sure how long she must have been there just watching on, but that wasn't important at the moment. Dawn then calmly walked up beside me, both hands behind her, reminiscent of an innocent child. "I'm sorry, I caught wind that you set out to settle something, and as soon as I thought it through, I knew you were going to battle Cynthia here once again."

Dawn then walked over to where Cynthia was and spent a couple of minutes conversing with her. I couldn't hear what they were saying as they were whispering, but I could assume they'd soon tell me. When they finished, Cynthia walked over to me and told me about how Dawn wanted a battle with me once more, not against me, but by my side, with Cynthia saying how she agreed to the handicap match. I was without words for a few seconds because I was confused, but not wanting to question anything more than I already have, which would've probably overwhelmed me if I did, I agreed to it.