The Champion's Protégé

Chapter 3

“Huh, I thought you were his girlfriend for sure. I guess Ash is still as clueless as ever,” said Gary sounding slightly disappointed. “Whatever I guess, Ash’s house is up ahead, just go past that hill, you can’t miss it, it’s the only house there.” said Gary, pointing in the right direction.

“Thank you Gary,” said Cynthia.

“No problem,” said Gary. “Have a good day, Miss Champion,” Gary called as Cynthia started running up the hill.

“Just call me Cynthia!” she called back as she continued running up the hill.

‘Almost there,’ thought Cynthia as she ran up the hill. ‘But why did I freak out back there when Gary called me Ash’s girlfriend? I’ve been mistakenly called people’s girlfriends before. The media does it all the time. So why is it only with Ash that I get so flustered? Ugh, it just doesn’t make any sense!

Cynthia’s inner monologue was interrupted as she arrived at the front door of the house. ‘This must be the place,’ she thought, as she rang the doorbell.

“Hello, who is it?” asked a voice from behind the door.

“Yes, hello, I’m Cynthia Shirone, I’m a friend of Ash’s,” answered Cynthia.

“Just a sec,” said the woman. Cynthia heard some muffled footsteps, and suddenly the door flew open to reveal a smiling, middle-aged woman. “Hello, I’m Ash’s mother, Delia, it’s nice to meet you Cynthia.”

“Oh, thank you Mrs. Ketchum,” said Cynthia. “Likewise.”

“So what can I do for you dear?” asked Delia, still smiling.

Cynthia shuffled her feet awkwardly, getting suddenly nervous. ‘Calm down Cynthia!’ she mentally reprimanded herself. She took a deep breath. “Um, well I heard that Ash will be home in a few days to get ready to compete in the Kanto Championship Tournament, so I was wondering if, you know, if it’s ok with you, if I could umm, maybe stay here for a while and surprise him when he gets home?” asked Cynthia awkwardly.

“Ah yes, I heard about the tournament from Scott. So Ash decided to compete in it after all?” inquired Delia.

“Yes ma’am,” said Cynthia, nodding her head.

“Well you’re welcome to stay if you’d like dear. Are you Ash’s girlfriend?” asked Delia, still smiling.

“G-g-girlfriend?!” exclaimed Cynthia, once again blushing and getting flustered at the thought. “N-no, I’m not his girlfriend yet or anything like that.”

“Yet?” asked Delia innocently. “So you’d like to be his girlfriend?”

“W-w-what?! N-n-no, I didn’t mean that!” stammered Cynthia, shaking her head and waving her arms in front of her in denial. “I’m not in love with Ash or anything!”

“Oh? But I didn’t say anything about being in love with him,” Delia pointed out in an innocent tone.

“Um-um-I-I-I just-I um-” sputtered Cynthia, her face going an even brighter shade of red.

‘She’s so cute. She’d be perfect for Ash,’ thought Delia. “Anyways, would you like to come inside dear, I just made dinner if you’d like some?” Delia asked, gesturing inside with her arm.

“Y-y-yes please. Th-th-thank you,’ answered Cynthia, as she stepped inside, relieved that Delia had dropped the topic of Ash (seemingly).

*Present Time Outside Of Pallet Town*

It was a beautiful winter morning in Pallet Town. A little warm for December, but there were no clouds out and you could see the pidgeys flying around in the sky. A young raven-haired boy returned his Charizard to his pokeball.