- Vagabond - Male Reader x Pokémon

Chapter 15: White Lies

"And, while I agree, your Chimchar may have a good chance, Bronzor isn't the only Pokémon in my arsenal. I can assure you that!" He remarked, flashing a belt of Pokémon Balls underneath his jacket. "Oh yeah?!" The fiery boy shouted back, getting up really close. "Fine, here and now! You and I, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" The blue haired teen chuckled. "Oh, really? That sounds good to me. You can learn from a real trainer..." And their Partners glared at one another, ready to throw themselves here in the street.

Cynthia nudged [Y/N]'s arm, and he looked back at her confused. "Shouldn't we stop them? They could hurt someone, and there's a perfectly good battlefield they can use behind the Pokémon Centre." He shrugged. "Has nothing to do with us, let's just get a move on." It was partly a desire to hurry up and get to their next destination, and equally a desire to not get involved with these two. One seemed too loud, and the other seemed overly condescending. They both seemed annoying, and he didn't want to deal with a headache...

And yet, before he could stop Cynthia from going ahead, the blonde marched forward without a second thought, placing herself in between the two, separating them.

At first, they were both confused. Why had this random stranger interrupted their argument? "The hell d'you think you're doing, missey?" The hot-tempered teen barked at her. Cynthia gave them a kind smile, like she always did, but there was a seriousness to her stare, not intimidated in the slightest.

"You want to get your licence taken away from you, idiot? Battling in the middle of Sinnoh's busiest city, with hundreds of people around you and no sense to check your surroundings beforehand? That just sounds like the pinnacle of stupidity to me..." And she eyed the blue haired teen too. "Both of you." They recoiled from her lecturing, an icy quality to her voice. It had a seriousness to it, without sounding overly malicious, which made it almost more frightening.

Despite how kind she may have appeared, when she was serious she turned into a completely different person. Even [Y/N] gave her a suspicious look from his distant spot, unsure as to what she was up to. "Fine, she speaks sense." The more well-mannered teen responded, dusting off his shoulders. It took a few moments longer but the red haired trainer eventually gave in too. "Fine..." He said with a loud sigh, his Chimchar disappointed. "Great, glad you could settle your differences." Cynthia smiled sweetly.

There was a demon behind that façade, [Y/N] was sure of it, despite how well Cynthia hid it. A monster lurked within, waiting to strike...

"You can use the battlefield behind the Pokémon Centre. It's open now, from last we checked." Cynthia said, always hoping to be helpful. Her voice returned to a more calm tone, appreciated by all in attendance. "That sounds great. Are you still ready to lose, Flint?" The blue haired trainer asked. Flint cracked his knuckles loudly. "You talk a big game, four-eyes. I can't wait to thrash your wannabe team!"

Perfect, [Y/N] thought to himself. This is great, we can leave and not have to deal with these weird people any longer. He had expected that to be the case, unfortunately, that was not how events would play out. However, before they left, Cynthia was stopped once more. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Lucian, from Hearthome City. And, as I'm sure you heard, this ape is Flint--" The hot tempered boy cut in. "I'm from Sunyshore, the best city in the entire region!" He said with a chuckle, crossing his arms. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. And, what is your name, if you wouldn't mind my asking?" Lucian asked with a smile, reaching out for Cynthia's hand.

[Y/N], who had gone completely unnoticed the entire time, scowled back at him. He didn't like him, it was an instinctual feeling, his gut shouting at him to stay far, far away. And, his gut never lied to him. Especially when he started getting closer to Cynthia, he didn't like that one bit. Lucian, or whatever his name was, could play the gentleman game all he liked, it didn't matter. He could see through the facade clear as day...