Austin looked quite better than the days before with his PTSD nightmares subsiding due to Munna. With Pikachu on his shoulder, Austin came towards a messaging room as Nurse Joy told him that he had a call from Steven.

Cynthia greeted her friend while wearing a tight pink T-Shirt and yoga pants that caused Austin to look at her for a few seconds.

" Cough "

Austin quickly looked up at Steven when he realized he was staring at Cynthia.

" So… what are you doing here?"

Steven smirked and said," My apologies for breaking up the romantic environment."

Steven's words caused Austin to blush before Steven had a serious look on his face as he exclaimed "I mentioned Lance about your little tete-e-tete with Mewtwo."

Austin's eyes widened before he nodded as he didn't expect it to go under the league's radar.

"What?" Cynthia screeched, snapping her head towards Steven, and instantly back to her friend. "When were you going to mention that to me?"

"Uh… I thought you knew."

" We are going to talk about this ."

"Ok" Austin shuddered at the cold tone, as

Cynthia muttered something incomprehensible under her breath, before addressing her friend directly. "I hope, for your own sake, that you do not have plans of leaving for another adventure already, Austin"

Austin swallowed. "Not at the time, no."

"I thought you were going to leave for Lavender tower directly after everyone recovered fully as you mentioned." Steven spoke up, before finding himself the object of the girl's glare, "—and I will shut up now."

"You and I have a lot to discuss," she returned, "—alone," emphasizing the last word specifically.

Austin gulped. "Sure thing."

Cynthia turned toward the other man. "Now if you would please stop dancing around the point?"

Steven let out a long.-suffering sigh. "As I stated, Lance knows about… Mewtwo's interest in you, and has… sufficient reason to believe that it was you who summoned the Dragonite."

Austin swallowed, not sure if he was going to like it.

"Considering that Mewtwo made a… mockery of Lance's team, he's… quite paranoid, as of now."

Austin took a step back, panicking. "You are not going to arrest me or anything, are you?"

"Relax." Steven gestured, "However, Lance does wish to keep you within the League's own… scrutiny."

"He means to say that Lance wants you tied, where he can see and observe you at a distance," Cynthia pronounced.

Steven shot her a dirty look. "That's not what I meant." He turned around. "Have you checked your trainer profile? I remember telling you to do it?"

Austin looked a tad embarrassed. "I… Uhm... might have forgotten, with the entire thing going on."

Steven arched an eyebrow, which was enough for Austin to skip the talk and activate his Pokedex to look at his trainer profile. What he saw, nearly choked him to death.

"Is it something to worry about?" Cynthia asked, concerned.

"Honorary associate…" Austin breathed, unsure of what he was seeing.

"Of the Indigo League." Steven finished for him. "Taking into account your contributions at SS. Anne, both before and during the entire cataclysmic event, I believe it is well deserved."

"But I never-"

"We know." Steven almost smirked. "Besides, you saved everyone, I think credit is due."

"I can agree with that," Cynthia smirked, seeing Austin, whose reaction resembled the Magikarp that had just been caught.

"You will also find a monetary advancement of ten thousand pokedollars granted to your trainer profile as a reward for your services."

Austin was beyond caring now. "What do I have to do in return?"

Steven smirked. "Nothing much as of now. You can continue on your path as a League aspirant. Being an honorary associate doesn't make you an Ace, or even put you in any position of authority. It is simply proof that you are a trainer personally known to the League, and thus, should allow you some form of leeway if you encounter the Police or say… the Ranger Squad." He paused. "Also, you might be called in if the League demands your services at any point in time in the future. Of course, the League will reimburse you for your aid."

Austin simply gaped. "But… but I am just a trainer, without any experience. Why would anyone even-?"

Cynthia sent him a glare, one that made him wisely shut up.

" Look kid, you might be a newbie in terms of time, but your actions and your team speak otherwise. You ranked quite highly in the Clubsplosion against many former league participants and you could have won the entire thing if one factor of the battle was changed. Your team is filled with many Pokémon that have the potential to become absolute powerhouses."

Austin just looked down at the ground, which seemed highly fascinating at the moment.

"I'm not praising you, Ash," Steven replied in a no-nonsense tone. "If there is something about you that makes the legendaries and this… Mewtwo takes notice of you, then that makes you worth the League's notice as well. Shit happens. Get over it and move on."

"That was some morale-boosting speech there, Steven." Cynthia deadpanned.

Steven shrugged, but he went on. "So that brings me to my last question. What are your next plans?"

Cynthia simply stared at her friend with a stony expression, as if daring him to speak out something unpleasant.

"I… I think I'm going to stay here for a while." Austin answered, after a moment of thought. "Maybe get to one of the other islands in the archipelago, and spend a week training, after… you know, our talks," he nodded his head towards the Sinnoh Champion, "are done."

"Yes, of course," Steven smirked. "Talks and training… mighty important the two of them."

Cynthia just glared.