" What is this pokémon, Mr. Astolfo?" She asked, stringing at the tiny little pokémon in the person's hands. It looked like a shark-like pokémon, only it had two tiny hind limbs to stand upon. The entirety of its body had a bright blue shade. Its jaws were so large, that she couldn't help but wonder if it would topple over should it open its haws while standing.

"This, my dear Miss Shirona, is a Gible." Her favourite professor beamed at her. "You know of my clan, right?"

"Yes, the Wataru. You told me that." The little girl laughed, holding her palm on her lips. "Astolfo Wataru, what an odd name."

The man snorted. "Well, Astolfo isn't really my true name, per se. It's just a name I have taken to leave my old self back at my clan village." The man paused. This wasn't a time to be nostalgic about his own past. "However, this Gible, is-"

The ten-year-old snorted again.

"Anything funny?" Astolfo asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nah—something of that sort." Cynthia continued despite her giggles, "It's just a funny name. Gible!"

The little land-shark pokémon gave an annoyed bark at that.

Cynthia giggled again at its antics.

Astolfo looked halfway amused. "Well, that it is, but it is a dragon species, and grows up into a mighty dragon, one that is known as Garchomp."

Cynthia's eyes widened as large as saucers. "Garchomp? Like the one you have?"

The man nodded. Garchomp were, in general, one of the most powerful of all dragon kind, they might be almost unparalleled except by the likes of Salamence of Hoenn, and the beast known as Hydreigon in the far reaches of Unova. "Yes, and more. This Gible, my dear, is very special. His colour, if you notice, is a very bright shade of blue, a contrast to most Gible who have a more subdued version of that shade. This is what… you might know as Shiny."

"A shiny pokémon?" The twelve-year-old princess of the Shirona name, looked at him in awe. "Is this really a shiny pokémon?"

"Yes, it is, and that is why, I wish for you to have it." He paused, "as your starter."

"A… shiny dragon, as my starter?"

"If you agree to a condition."

Cynthia raised her eyebrows, trying to look intimidating like only a ten-year-old could. "Which is?"

"You will never tame another dragon in your life."

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( A.N : Imagine this )

Cynthia Shirona, the princess to the Shirona fortune, was the youngest Champion of the Sinnoh region, a title she had claimed at a mere age of fourteen, just four years after she began her life as a trainer. She had kept her promise to the man she once knew as Mr. Astolfo, a man she never managed to land her eyes on after that day, a man who had given her, the pokémon who would go ahead to become one of the most feared of his kind in Sinnoh.

My shiny Garchomp.

True to her word, she had gone ahead to capture several pokémon during her life as a trainer, and trained them to the level that they became powerful in their own way, though never had she cast aspersions on her starter, nor had she broken her promise to acquire more dragon-type pokémon.

And now she was the Champion, a title that, until very recently, belonged to Brenden, the reigning Champion of Sinnoh for the last ten years. A month ago, just after the Indigo League had come to an end, she had challenged the Champion to a six-on-six battle, after her victory against the Sinnoh Elite four.

"Empoleon is unable to battle. The winner, is Garchomp!"

And her life had never really been the same since that day.

The first two weeks had been a lot of congratulations from all over the world, though she had figured a slight amount of… disdain from the Kanto Champion Lance, not that it wasn't hard to discern that. A single meet with the Kanto Champion, and it had been clear that Lance didn't really have high expectations of her.

And not without due reason.

Then, the second step of the Kanto-Hoenn exchange came to be. The SS.Anne cruise ship, which was returning from Alola, would stop at Sinnoh for around six hours, and it was requested that the Sinnoh Champion, along with some of the Elite Four, be a part of the trip, considering that a lot of trainers from Sinnoh were going to be participating in the Tournament event that was to be held when everyone was finally aboard. Cynthia had happily climbed aboard, but when it came to the Elite Four, the reaction was just as irritating as she had anticipated it to be.

"You are the new Champion, and it's only been days. Please enjoy the trip. The Elite Four will be able to manage Sinnoh just fine, in your absence…."

She could have sworn that each of the Elite Four wanted to finish that line with a single word.

Airhead.

"Lady Shirona?"

Cynthia let out a long-suffering sigh. Apparently, being the Champion wasn't as fun as she had anticipated it to be. While she did acquire the position of the Head of Defense in the Sinnoh region, her age became her biggest liability. The Champion was assisted by various servants and assistants, and said servants just had to be one of those kinds who thought that the sixteen-year-old needed directions for everything in her life.

"Yes, Miranda?" Cynthia replied with her practiced, fake smile. Come to think of it, she had been using the smile consistently since she began battling against the Elite Four of Sinnoh.

"You have been in your room all day, Lady Shirona. It would do you good to get out and enjoy the cruise as it is." Miranda replied in a no-nonsense tone.

Right. After all, sitting on the balcony, watching the waves, isn't part of the Cruise.

"I am perfectly happy sitting here on the balcony."

"But my lady, there are so many people out there. You could go to the deck and meet new people from the other regions. A champion needs to be popular both in her own region and beyond."

Right, I knew I should have gotten a book on 'Living as a Champion 101'.

Cynthia felt her Pokenav vibrate, as she pulled it out of her pocket.

9 challenges from Ace trainers.

4 challenges from Elite Four.

She sighed. Yes Cynthia, you are so popular. So popular that already the Elite Four want an attempt to get rid of you.

The maid-servant stared at the indecisive Champion for a while, before sighing inwardly. "You could always go and try out the ice-cream flavours. I'm told that the one on the deck has quite the collection."

Now that, grabbed Cynthia's attention. "I guess… it wouldn't be too bad to get myself an ice-cream right now. I've been here for the whole day anyway."

"Very sharp, my lady." The maid-servant muttered. "If you please?"

With an absent look on her face, the newest Sinnoh Champion sped past the servant, leaving the room empty for her.