Fortunately, Austin hadn't had to face the problem of surfing on Squirtle. The strenuous exercise all morning had made both of them quite hungry, and despite his attempts to the contrary, Cynthia had taken it upon herself to prepare the lunch, claiming that he had prepared the breakfast and hence it was her prerogative to make lunch. Knowing a lost battle when he saw one, the transmigrated trainer had agreed and let her do as she did.

The Sinnoh girl had been teleporting all over the place, preparing what was sure to be a succulent and appetizing meal. Then again, considering the number of ingredients he had gotten for the occasion, he shouldn't have been that surprised in the first place.

"Mmmm… that was delicious," Austin claimed about the bacon. The morsels melted in his mouth when he tried them. "Seriously, if you ever get tired of being Champion, you should open a restaurant."

Cynthia chortled at that. "I'm glad you liked it, Austin." She glanced at Milotic, Krabby, and Squirtle who were still in the waters. "Though I must say that it wouldn't be possible without those extra additions you brought in." She paused. "Must have cost a hefty amount."

Austin shrugged. "I'll manage. Besides, you deserve it." He never noticed her going stiff all sudden as he made his comment. "I'm just happy because you are."

Cynthia beamed at him. "Thank you, Austin. It means a lot to me."

Austin just grinned.

" Austin, so did you go talk to your friends?"

In response, Austin just nodded lying.

Even after all the time he had gotten to himself, he knew it wasn't his friend's fault. He could have also tried better but still, he wasn't ready to face his friends and tell them that Raticate had passed away

Maybe it was cowardly of him but he wanted to have all his emotions sorted out before he talks to them.

"That is one odd Nincada you have there, Austin." Cynthia pointed at the twerking Nincada who was trying to impress her Garchomp.

"Either way, I like the way they are." Austin defended.

"Yes, yes. Take their side why don't you," Cynthia barked. "You attract all kinds of oddities."

Austin just shrugged.

" So how did you meet your starter ?"

" The funny thing is that I was supposed to get a normal starter but a family friend gave me my Gible ."

She paused, wondering if she should tell him or not. Taking a decision, she continued, "you probably do not know, but to gain the allegiance of a pseudo-legendary is significant."

"What does that mean?" Austin asked, not even bothering to hide his ignorance on the subject.

Cynthia's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smile. "It means- whenever a pseudo-legendary pokémon bonds with a trainer, it is almost always…" she paused, "—a fated event. Not a matter of chance."

Austin listened to her words before his countenance shifted to a frown. "I disagree."

Cynthia arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"I disagree. Pseudo-legendaries are powerful and can become strong enough to stand against legendaries. A friend told me that once upon a time." Austin paused, as his tone became more nostalgic than anything else while remembering his favorite events from the anime. Pikachu taking out Regiice, Sceptile taking out Darkrai e.t.c.

"I can agree with that, having seen the King's power, Steven's Metagross, or even your Garchomp in action. Pseudo-legendaries are damn powerful, and I would love to have one on my team." He looked squarely at her. "However, I do not agree that it is a fated event, while the rest is a matter of chance with other pokémon."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, Cynthia." Austin went on. "Believing in the sentiment you told me, would mean that my meeting Charmeleon back at Route 24 was a matter of chance as well. It wasn't or maybe it was but I like to believe that it wasn't a preplanned or fated event. The same is true for every of my pokémon. All of my pokémon are special, in their way, pseudo-legendary or not."

Cynthia had a searching expression on her face.

"If you say so."

"Yeah," Austin murmured.

The Sinnoh Champion parted her lips but then paused, before making a decision. "You should know though… that not everyone will share that sentiment of yours."

Austin arched an eyebrow.

"The league," Cynthia added.

"…"

"Believe it or not, for most people in high-up positions, especially the Elites, being a pseudo-legendary trainer means something. It will make them notice you as they noticed me, or Steven, or anyone out there that has ever tamed and gotten the pseudo-legendary's allegiance."

"Notice?"

Cynthia suppressed an urge to yell out in frustration. "Austin… when I met you back then on the cruise, it was because of well, two things. The first was your battling style—it was eerily similar to my own, and the other, well because of your unique Charmander who could do such powerful dragon-type moves."

"Really?!"

Cynthia suppressed her emotions. "Yes."

"And not because you wanted to be my friend?"

It wasn't a question, just a confirmation.

"I am your friend." Cynthia reached forward to hold his hand. "I truly am, but back then, I was… interested in you because of that."

Austin didn't say anything but in his mind it made sense.

Why would the Champion of Sinnoh take an interest in some no-name trainer?

"Come now, surely you aren't that naïve to believe that people don't have any private intentions apart from just getting acquainted?"

Austin nodded. He understood it clearly.

" You better believe that, Austin. Everyone of significance that has ever demonstrated any interest in you, must have had some personal interests and intentions behind making their acquaintance, at least at the beginning. Me, Steven, or even Bill Montgomery—everyone always acts out of their expectations, and rarely out of altruism. It's only natural."

"I guess," Austin murmured. "I just… never mind." He looked up at her. "What about you? You also have a pseudo-legendary."

"Yeah, and I was the heir of an old clan, who started with a shiny Gible. That attracts a lot of attention."

"Like?"

Cynthia paused, wondering what to say. "Put it like this. You remember I told you about the Wataru clan?"

"From where Lance is."

"Yes, well, I had a professor who tutored me in private before I set out on my journey. He was a descendant of the Wataru clan, and it was he who gave me my shiny Gible. He only asked me to keep a promise that I have never faltered, even now."

"What was that?" Austin asked, before realizing that he had perhaps overstepped his boundaries.

Cynthia, it seemed had deduced his thoughts from his facial expression. "It's okay, I don't mind. He told me never to tame another dragon in my life as a trainer."

"Huh? Why would he tell you to do such a thing?"

Cynthia frowned. "Honestly? I do not know, but he did, and I followed that rule. I never regretted it. Garchomp and I are made for each other, and she's the only dragon I need on my team."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Cynthia's face had the quintessential nostalgic expression.

"We traveled all around Sinnoh, catching several pokémon. Within three months of my journey, I already had fifteen pokémon in my team- Meditite, Jellicent, Spiritomb, Espeon, Heracross, Pupitar, Riolu, Solrock, Staravia, Roselia, Shellos, Snover, Rhydon and a Togetic. Apart from my Gible that is, who had evolved into a Gabite." She recited out from memory.

"And here I thought that Gary was overzealous, and me, plain lucky for having caught so many pokémon."

"Sorry to break it to you, but you aren't the biggest freak in town." Cynthia quipped.

"Welḷ… that's a first." Austin chortled.

"It's true." Cynthia continued. "Most trainers catch a majority of their pokémon in the first couple of months, and the number dwindles from there onwards. I only caught some four or five pokémon in my subsequent years, as I realized that it was more important to train my existing team than get more."

"I guess the same will happen to me," Austin muttered. He was slowly seeing the problems arising out of handling a large team. He had already had a large enough team, and if he managed to train them well, they would be able to bring him victory in subsequent challenges to come.

"It should." Cynthia agreed. "Though there are some morons you will find on your journey, trainers who capture a relatively decent amount of pokémon, win the badges but lose at the conferences because they have spent their entire time poking their noses into matters they have no business with, instead of training and evolving their pokémon. Then, they just start afresh with a new region, hoping to catch newer pokémon, and repeat the entire thing."

Austin's sweat dropped as he heard Cynthia essentially dissing what Ash had done in the anime.

"Let me guess, they lose again."

Cynthia arched her eyebrow. "What else did you expect?"