AN: This chapter sort of got away from me, but it was fun to write, which is the point I suppose. Also, points to whoever finds the Tales of Phantasia quote in this chapter. (Any Tales fans out there? T-T) There's also (unintentional) Lion King and Star Wars ones, if you squint.
-o-o-o-
The rain had calmed to an annoying drizzle by the time the group broke camp and got on their way. They made fairly good time through the forest and once they left the shelter of the trees the precipitation had thankfully died off completely.
Lush, rolling plains once again spread out before them, with snow capped mountains lining the horizon in the direction Aaron was leading them.
Squinting with curiosity across the grasslands, Cynthia pointed out a far off herd of Tauros. "We should probably avoid those..."
Aaron simply nodded in agreement but Steven turned to her with interest. "Bad experience?" he wanted to know, feeling both curious and amused.
When Cynthia hesitated to answer but eventually nodded reluctantly, Steven couldn't help prodding further. The thought of her balking at any Pokémon intrigued him. "Is the mighty Sinnoh Champion afraid of Tauros?"
"I'm not afraid of them," she snapped back defensively, seemingly embarrassed, before raising her head to regain some dignity. "Tauros are widely known for their volatile nature, so it's always better to avoid a herd when possible."
"Yes, of course." Steven nodded compliantly but allowed his smirk to linger, guessing she was still hiding something.
Not even a moment of his silent teasing had lapsed before Cynthia released a defeated sigh. "I had just started out on my journey. I was trying to catch a Ponyta to ride, since Gar was still just a Gible at the time."
Steven listened intently, suddenly finding himself immensely curious about her initial Pokémon journey. Cynthia, on the other hand, was growing more embarrassed as she spoke and brought a hand up to hide the side of her face not veiled by her hair.
"The Ponyta I was after ran away and joined a herd of Tauros, but I wasn't so familiar with their aggressive tendencies at the time and I thought I could scatter the herd to single it out..." Her voice faded to a mutter by the time she finished. "Needless to say, they charged me and I had to climb a tree."
Steven had to stamp down a violent chuckle at the mental image. Apparently his amused expression gave him away though, since Cynthia was aiming a glare his way. "Ahem," he cleared his throat objectively, attempting to banish his smirk. "So, did you ever get the Ponyta?"
Although he found her story amusing and believable for her early trainer years, the Cynthia he knew now gave him an entirely different mental picture. If a herd of Tauros charged at her right now, he imagined her standing firm and simply holding out her hand in a commanding pose. With her reputation, he would not be surprised if even a rampaging Tauros was reduced to a breaking halt to obey her.
"I eventually caught one, yes," Cynthia replied, unaware of his reverie as she crossed her arms, her glare shifting into a pointed, narrow gaze. "Your turn."
"I'm sorry?" Steven wondered aloud; he had no Tauros experience outside of trainer battles to share. He quickly surmised what she wanted though and he felt himself cringe in response. "Oh..."
"Yes," she affirmed with a deceptively nice smile. "Please, regale me with one of your early novice mistakes."
After a long moment of contemplation, Steven sighed in defeat and decided on probably the least embarrassing blunder he could think of, although in reality he'd had very little control over the situation back then...
"Much like your case, I had just started out on my journey and I was trying to catch a Pokémon to ride, but instead, I needed a water type in order to travel to Dewford town across the ocean."
Cynthia nodded, listening intently as they followed Aaron across the plains and purposely gave the grunting herd of Tauros a wide berth.
"I tried fishing for a Wailmer, but I ended up hooking a really angry Gyarados instead..." Steven winced a little at the memory. "I didn't even have time to send out a Pokémon to battle before it grabbed me and carried me off to sea. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt me, but instead just dumped me off in the middle of nowhere... Eventually a kind old sailor and his Wingull found me and offered to take me to Dewford, so I suppose it all worked out."
After taking a moment to consider his story, Cynthia's gaze narrowed again. "That's less of a blunder and more of a case of bad luck." She soon relented when he offered up a sheepish smile. "But I suppose it counts."
"To be fair," Steven replied. "After that, I never fished without one of my Pokémon sitting right next to me."
After successfully avoiding the Tauros, the group crested a grassy hill where Aaron came to a halt and quietly signaled everyone to stop. More fields stretched out in front of them, ending only at the foot of a mountain in the distance, where specks of white could be seen ,presumably tents making up Kenshin's camp; they were finally getting close to their destination.
The reason Aaron had stopped, however, was due to a commotion at the bottom of the hill. At first glance, what appeared to be three pink blobs being chased by a larger tan quadruped, turned out to be three terrified Munnas and a fierce looking Persian in high pursuit.
Steven glared down at the scene with the instantaneous thought of sending Skarmory out to intercept, but his hand and mouth moved just a split second slower than Cynthia's. At her command, Garchomp launched off the ground like a sonic boom and hurtled down at the Persian with frightening speed.
As a warning, Garchomp struck the ground with an explosive Dragon Claw, causing the big cat to leap sideways and slide to a halt in surprise. The two faced off for a moment, but after some loud posturing, the Persian hissed angrily and turned tail in retreat.
With the incident over with, Aaron finally sighed and shook his head dismally, catching both Cynthia and Steven's attention. "I admire your compassion, but I would advise you to avoid interfering with wild Pokémon in the future."
"You're asking us to ignore our very nature," Steven spoke up first, having shared a brief, hesitant glance with Cynthia. "Protecting others is basically our job back home." That was all besides the fact that he was not about to suffer bullies, no matter the form they took.
"Be that as it may," Aaron replied carefully. "I insist that you refrain from doing so while you're here. I don't know the situation in your era, but here the wild Pokémon maintain a delicate balance. Human interference will only cause undue disruptions."
"I understand what you're saying," Cynthia said, her ashen gaze narrowed thoughtfully. "But it's like Steven said, it would go against my nature to turn my back on something that needs my help."
"Besides," Steven added with a confused frown. "You call yourself a peacekeeper, but what you're saying is contradictory."
Aaron's head shot up at that, Steven's comment apparently hitting a nerve. "I am a peacekeeper for man, for it is man alone that instigates war." He gestured towards Aggron, as if to use him as an example. "For instance, an Aggron may defend his mountain with intense violence, yet he does not involve his mountain with that violence."
Aaron glanced between Steven and Cynthia and deliberately thumped his staff on the ground with a clang. "That is the difference. Man does not simply defend his own territory, he involves everyone in his territory to get what he wants." Almost sadly, his eyes shifted to the ground and his tone turned solemn and quiet. "Truly, if there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of man."
A long, tense moment lapsed and the only sound was that of the wind brushing the knee high grass around them. Steven met Cynthia's gaze, a significant understanding passing between them. They had both heard stories about each other's escapades which involved power hungry mad men; Aaron's words rang with a truth that neither could deny.
"I'm sorry Aaron," Steven apologized and bowed his head slightly. "Although our opinions might differ about the former matter, I can fully agree with you on the latter."
Cynthia nodded her agreement. "I can't promise that I won't protect the next helpless creature I come across... But I will at least try to respect your wishes."
Aaron nodded in return and sighed out what seemed like a mix of relief and defeat. "That will have to do."
Lucario had remained completely silent during the entirety of the debate, having already had such a discussion with his master in the past. He was about to add his thoughts to the matter when the wind suddenly shifted and his second sight fixated on the new, four legged figure now standing slightly behind Cynthia. "Ah! M-Master, it's a-" his mind voice sputtered before he instinctively dropped to a respectful kneeling position.
All three humans turned in the direction indicated, their expressions simultaneously turning surprised at the sight of the majestic, blue quadruped. "A S-Suicune!?" Steven exclaimed in utter disbelief, while Cynthia appeared frozen with suspense and Aaron merely observed with keen interest.
The legendary beast tipped its head curiously in response as it fluidly moved to stand directly beside Cynthia, its piercing red gaze studying her carefully.
Mesmerized for a surreal moment, Cynthia stared right back, her breath caught in her throat. She raised a tentative hand towards its broad head and eventually managed to at least murmur a soft, "may I?"
Instinctively, Steven moved to protest, not knowing if the beast was friend or foe, but Aaron stopped him with a halting gesture and a calm expression. Emitting something between a grunt and a growl of annoyance, Steven briefly entertained the thought of disregarding the warning entirely, surprising himself with how agitated he felt about anyone preventing him from protecting his temporary wife.
He quickly realized, however, how absurd his thoughts really were, considering that Cynthia hardly needed protecting at all with her innate confidence in facing down any threat, be it a rampaging Tauros or an imposing Suicune. He also didn't think he would be able to do anything at all, should the very incarnation of the north wind decide to attack.
In that instant, Suicune deliberately met his gaze and Steven got the feeling the cerulean beast was smiling at him with amusement. Its scarlet eyes were shining and intelligent as it turned back to Cynthia and bowed its head to gently submit to her touch.
The woman released a startled gasp after placing her palm on its dark blue head crest, as if the beast had spoken to her and her alone. Cynthia nodded with a captivated smile and retracted her hand. "Thank you."
Suicune let ou ta soft bark in response, regarded both men briefly, then leaped away and bounded down the grassy hill before disappearing into a thick fog that hadn't been there a moment ago.
A relative silence lapsed as everyone tried to assimilate what had just happened. "Did- Did that Suicune just acknowledge you?" Steven wanted to know, awed by the encounter but also relieved that it had been a peaceful one.
Cynthia looked over at him with a sheepish nod. "Not with words, but I could understand his feelings. He seemed to favor me for stepping in to save the little ones."
"I have to say, I'm a bit jealous," Steven said with a wry smile. Idly he wondered if it really was her actions that drew the legend's attention, or if it was something more significant...
"So, he agreed with your stance on the matter?..." Aaron questioned, his brows furrowed with doubt; it was an extremely unusual expression to see on him.
Cynthia returned Steven's smile with an obnoxious gleam in her eyes before turning to Aaron and shaking her head soberly. "I don't think it's as simple as being right or wrong. He seemed to agree with your thoughts too, but I think it's his own nature to protect the weak. And in this case, he seemed surprised that a human would defend a wild Pokémon."
"I... see," Aaron murmured solemnly, hand to chin in deep thought.
"Um, friends," Lucario said, his mental voice sounding bemused. "We seem to have a problem..."
Everyone turned to see Garchomp tromping awkwardly back up the hill, the three Munnas clinging to her body in various places despite her sharp scales. One was latched onto her stomach, another her neck, the last was clinging to her right hip. By all accounts she looked like a Garchomp with some kind of rare disease involving odd, pink warts.
Cynthia tried to fight off a burst of laugh but ended up snorting at the sight. "Oh Gar, don't look so grumpy. They just like you, is all."
Steven was having a hard time resisting all out laughter as well, though he managed to contain himself to just snickering behind a hand.
Aggron, Skarmory and Togekiss were not so considerate, all of them either squawking or grunting with amusement. Garchomp growled at them in turn, but made a beeline for her master in a desperate bid for help.
"Hello little ones," Cynthia cooed softly at the Munnas and carefully placed her hands on the one attached to Garchomp's stomach. "I won't hurt you," she told them when they all simultaneously whimpered in fear.
Once they seemed to calm down, she experimentally tried to pull the one off, but when she held it merely a foot away it began gravitating back to Garchomp like a magnet.
Letting go, Cynthia shook her head with a sigh. "Sorry Gar, I think you might be stuck with them for now."
Garchomp released a shriek of utter disbelief and dread, her gold eyes shifting to the Munna with a dangerous glare.
"No Gar," Cynthia chastised with her no-nonsense tone. "You be gentle, they're just babies."
Garchomp whined apologetically and hung her head submissively as Steven moved closer with a hand to chin to inspect the one on her belly curiously. "How can you tell that they're babies?"
Cynthia tipped her head thoughtfully. "Well, they're all much smaller than any Munna I've ever seen, and the way they're clinging to Gar like she's their mother tells me they must have just hatched."
Garchomp shrieked again, incredulous and appalled at the notion. Steven smiled sympathetically at the dragon but nodded in agreement at Cynthia's deduction. "Do you think their parents will come looking for them even if we keep moving?"
After a moment of contemplation, Cynthia nodded back. "That should be fine. From what I've read, Munna and Musharna are drawn to each other's dream mist, so their parents should be able to track them no matter where we take them."
"That's good," Aaron cut in and strode forward. "Because we can't waste any more time on this venture. At this rate we'll be walking in the dark before we make Kenshin's camp."
Cynthia and Steven moved to follow without a word, while Garchomp grumbled unhappily and the other Pokémon snickered at her expense.
Steven watched the comical dynamic for a moment and absently wondered if gathering pathetic life-forms was going to become a new trend.
-o-o-o-
/o/o/o/ Bonus scene:
Garchomp: This is so humiliating...(glares at the Munnas)
Togekiss: I don't know, they seem cute to me.
Garchomp: Then you take them!
Togekiss: No way, I'd tip over. (snicker) Besides, you're their mother now.
Garchomp:(snarl) I am not!
Skarmory and Aggron: (barking and squawking with laughter)
Garchomp:(seethes) When I get rid of these things, you two have a Draco Meteor coming!