The Lost Master

Chapter-20

Since that day, Cynthia had struggled to control events like she had used to. When she was the Pokémon Master she had always been in control. Before then, she had been the Sinnoh Champion, and before that an independent trainer. Having to accept that somebody else had control over her work had been hard for her to get used to. She hadn't been able to grasp what her successor wanted from her; to act as a buffer between him and the rest of the world. She thought she was doing alright when she had finally managed to get the training camp done, but then came a mistake; she had kept pestering her boss to try to teach the trainers she was bringing. A good idea in theory for them, but against what 'Champion' wanted of her. She was to teach so that he didn't have to. Although she admitted she hadn't been disappointed, the teaching was on a whole new level. She had seen why nobody could even come close to the Pokémon Master.

And then came her biggest mistake of all; her intervention. Cynthia didn't know what had happened underneath Goldenrod City, but having seen the devastation that his Pokémon had wreaked underneath the city, she was very sure that she didn't want to know. When she had been dismissed from her role and returned to Sinnoh she had had a chance to think about the events, and had decided that they could have been handled better. The youngsters that she had brought with her, that had gotten her fired, she was angry at herself for bringing them. And as to going against the instruction of the Pokémon Master, that was something that Cynthia didn't intend to repeat in a hurry.

There was a loud bang on the door that caused Cynthia to jump and look up. For the first time since she had been imprisoned, the door opened fully, instead of a space at the bottom. As light spilled into the room, causing momentary blindness for Cynthia, she allowed herself to think for a moment that she had been saved. Yet as her eyes slowly acclimatized to the bright light, she found herself looking into the pitiless face of Agent.

"I felt that I should give you a warning" the Rocket said with a sneer. "The food I am bringing now will be providing you for a long time. I will be gone for a while, and I can't have the only guarantee that Mewtwo will do as I order dying on me can I?" He turned and pulled in a large trolley, covered in plates of food. "I hope this will be to your liking Miss Shirona. There isn't much of an alternative if it isn't." With that, he turned away, and the door slammed shut behind him, plunging Cynthia into darkness once again.

Ash Ketchum stood looking out across the main stadium. He was here to watch the biggest battle in the round-robin stage, in group 7, between Misty Waterflower and Aaron Olson. Both of them had comprehensively thumped the third member of their group without losing or having to change a Pokémon. But now, the loser of this three on three match would be out of the tournament. Ash knew that as the Pokémon Master he had to seem to be neutral, and would also be expected to appear at a battle of this magnitude. Yet he knew exactly who he wanted to win. Despite the seven years apart, and the crushing victory he had inflicted on her when she had challenged him, Ash still thought of Misty as somebody he was closer to than most humans. Yet he knew he could never go back. Years of training had changed him, just as it had changed them. He still recognized his friends, and whilst the years had meant that he didn't interact with humans as well as others, he still knew that he was no longer friends with any of them. If they found out who he was, he knew that there would be trouble. Friendship counted for little when it was so long ago. And he had set himself a job to do. He had completed his childhood dream and become the Pokémon Master, and the most powerful trainer in existence. His Pokémon could (and had) taken out legendries. He chuckled as he remembered on particular fight just over a year previously, when Charizard had provoked and fought Entei. The Volcano Pokémon had initially been outraged that a mere Charizard would fight him, and then shocked at the power of said Charizard. It had ended with Charizard's foot stamped over Entei's throat, the legend being beaten, before Ash had finally stepped in. Charizard had wanted to savor his victory longer, and he hadn't taken kindly to his trainer's attempt to interrupt. When Entei saw the blast of flame sent at Ash deflected, he had looked on amazed, as Ash glared at his trademark powerhouse who had finally backed down.