Into the Eye of the Hurricane (Steven and Cynthia)

[CYNTHIA]

Weather people are always wrong. You can never trust them.

Of course, Cynthia had trusted them. She was heading out to sea. It was supposed to be a lovely day. She left from Cianwood early that morning, at the break of dawn. She had watched the news, she had seen the forcast. It was going to be a pleasant day, if not a little bit blustery. Cynthia wore her usual black clothing. It would be perfect for a nice, windy day. Just enough to keep her comfortable.

Aurora the Milotic had been underused. Cynthia hadn't seen her in a long while and the sea snake glided through the water with ease before Cynthia had asked her to use Surf and bring her back home. The former champion often rode on the back of her serpent through the rough waves of the ocean. But she had never seen something like this storm.

Cynthia was attempting to get back to Unova. She wanted to go back to Undella town, despite the painful memories, and lock herself in her villa to contemplate what to do with her life. But the weather had other ideas.

Cynthia clung tightly to her Milotic's back, grasping her read hair tightly. The wind blew roughly and waves rose high out of the ocean depths, like sea monsters coming to get her. It was everything Aurora could do to keep her mistress's head above the water. Lightning flashed overhead and the sea snake stopped fighting the current that dragged them farther and farther off course. Thunder echoed across the black water. And this was the last thing the pair remembered before darkness overtook them.

Bright sunlight. Too bright. Cynthia moved over, rolling onto the sand with a groan. A wave washed over her and the Milotic she clung to. She forced opened her eyes and looked around. Where was she? She had never been to these shores before. Everything was strange.

Still, the girl stood up and dusted the sand off her. Aurora was too battered to wake, let alone move, so Cynthia returned her to her pokeball. Some kind of jogger was running around in the shallows. Cynthia stood carefully, her head spinning, and walked towards him. The jogger stopped to look at the rag-tag girl in front of him. "Sir, I'm sorry to ask, but where is this? I'm quite lost you see..."

The jogger thought that she looked awfully familiar but he just couldn't put his finger on where he had seen her before. Oh well. "This would be Mossdeep city miss. Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Cynthia said tersely. "But thank you. Have a nice run!" She turned her back on the man and began to journey inland, or what she thought was inland. Mossdeep. Why did that sound so familiar? She shook this feeling off and instead focussed on finding a pokemon center around this place.

Mossdeep was nice, Cynthia would give it that. She walked with her head down, trying not to draw attention to herself. When it became clear that no one was going to recognize her, she eventually relaxed and walked into the pokemon center. After a quick heal, she asked the nurse how she could get to the mainland. The residing nurse told her that a boat left the small marina every weekday and travelled back to Slateport. But it was Saterday. Cynthia would have to wait. The rooms were full, the nurse also told her. The gym leaders were holding some kind of competition in the city this weekend and trainers had flocked in from near and far to attend. Which meant that Cynthia could not stay at the pokemon center.

She felt a bit dejected. Cynthia would have to find other arrangements for the night and she certainly didn't want to spend another night out on the sand. She shivered from the cold and could only imagine how awesome she looked after spending a day and night out on the sea and in the sand.

There were two young trainers in front of Cynthia on the road. She didn't really know where she was going, but she thought that staying on the road might lead her to an inn or something. Night was falling fast and she didn't really know the city...

But the two trainers' conversation is what caught Cynthia's attention. "-Yeah, I'm telling you, Liza and Tate couldn't beat him even if they tried," One boy was saying.

"But together, they're invincible!" The other protested weakly. The first boy just laughed.

"Look Simon, he's not the champion for nothing. I mean, one time I saw him take on three Tyranitar all by himself!"

"You did not!"

"I did too! Some trainer by the Shoal Cave was threatening him, and then he just crushed them! It was amazing1"

"I don't believe you!"

"Then why don't you go ask Steven yourself? He's only, like, a minute away from here." The other boy cowered, scared at the prospect of confronting the champion. Cynthia stopped and looked around. Steven? Here? The trainers were already laughing off the joke when Cynthia tapped one on the shoulder. The young boy turned around with a sneer on his face. But that expression soon turned to one of awe as he recognized one of the champions that he had always looked up to.

"Where do I find Steven?" She asked the boy. He pointed, his blank expression one of absolute suprise. "Thanks!" Cynthia winked at him before she tore off in the direction he had been pointing. There was only one residential house in the area. And that house had to be Steven's.

At the door, the former Champion took a couple breaths in and out, calming her nerves. Then she knocked. She was determined not to make a fool out of herself this time. And then she prayed that someone would answer the door.

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] pleasant day in Mossdeep City. Children having fun with themselves, gym events brewing and Pokemon taking themselves up to test their limits. It's quite enough to make a trainer, or anyone's, blood boil. Steven would've been there, himself. Yet, an unfortunate memory plagued his thoughts.

Erika...

It hadn't been too long since the champion took her in, and the resulting confession that sank his heart deep. Since then, he had kept her Pokemon within one of the vaults of the Devon corporation, and her PokeGear was still in his possession. He had left from his second visit with the Celadon gym leader a day ago, and came home to get his mind out of everything. To help himself with a private time with literature and tea. Basalt, his Aggron, and Jasper, his Skarmory had been helping to clean the webs and dust from the library shelves.

A doorbell.

As he was about to open his latest novella, he ears rang with the chime of a new visitor. Reluctantly, he kept his reading glasses on as he continued to walk over to the door and slowly open it. He kept a positive look, to not worry anyone else as he did. Lo and behold, Cynthia came to return to him, and she seemed awfully stressed. Taking to touch her shoulder, Steven calmly answered, "Ah, Cynthia...never thought I'd see you again! How may I be of service?" he said with a melodic tone and a matching smile.[/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

Cynthia looked up quickly to see Steven's charming smile and helpful eyes but looked down just as fast, refusing to meet his eyes for more thatn a couple of seconds. Still looking at her feet, she answered, "I-I just need a place to spend the night. I was heading to my home in Unova but... I got caught in a storm, it blew me here. I worke up on the beach and the ferry doesn't leave until Monday. And quite frankly, I'm not too keen to go out again all by myself with my Milotic. I mean, if we hadn't blown in, we probably would have drowned. Not that that would be such a horrible thing," She added much more quietly. Cynthia didn't want to worry Steven; that would mean quetions that Cynthia didn't really have answers to.

Why did she always act a fool in front of him? Cynthia just didn't want to embarass herself. Again. She always lost her confidence and smoothness around him but not today. The girl looked up and gave him one of her usual confident smiles, only it was rather half-hearted. "I just... Need a place to stay and some food. I'll even pay you. The pokeon center is full and I really don't want to sleep out on the beach again." She looked down again, rather uncomfortable with the whole situation.

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] as quickly as Cynthia's angelic eyes met with Steven once more, her head suddenly dropped in helplessness. Gazing at her and listening to her plea, Steven came to rest his hand on her again, leaving the door open and inviting her in. "I understand, stay with me as long as you may, Cynthia." he said, finishing with a hum.

As he wondered about the living room and library, the thought of Cynthia ran through the Hoenn champion once more. At this, he fondly remembered their first embrace. Her soft mouth, the warmth of her clothing, and the steam of the hot springs. It was like it happened just yesterday, and just as a schoolgirl would recall her first crush, Steven came to replay the strange and unusual day he met Cynthia, over and over. It was a bit embarrassing for someone of his status to fawn over something like this, yes, but it helped to warm his darkened mood. Lord knows that he needed to get it off his chest.

"Forgive me, if my own presence at home is odd. I haven't really been much of an out-goer recently.", he started to say as he picked up Erika's PokeGear and played with it in his hand. "Understandable, considered what I had to go through with Erika. You, yourself, have probably heard of the news by now." It was hard, talking about Erika again, yet he felt like leaning on someone's shoulder after everything that's happens. "These have been strange times, indeed."[/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

Cynthia stepped into Steven’s house happily. It was nice and cozy, quite a quaint little place. She looked over and smiled, “Thank you,” She whispered as she ran her hands over the many volumes of books he had lining the shelves of his home. Classics, like Hugo and Shakespeare were well-stocked; just her kind of library. Cynthia glanced up. Steven’s eyes were sad and weary, an expression Cynthia hadn’t seen there before. She put Les Miserables back in its spot and walked towards him.

“No, I haven’t heard about Erika. I haven’t exactly been… in the know for a while. I’ve been… ‘exploring’ you could say. Alone, but for the company of my pokemon and the occasional hiker.” She didn’t really mention the fact that she was on the top of Mount Cornet for the past week-ish. That she had been there avoiding contact with anyone who knew her, that she hadn’t seen anyone she knew since she last saw him at the hot springs. And he was the only one she had seen since her incidence. Hell, everyone probably thought that she was dead, which wasn’t amazingly far from the truth. But the world did not revolve around former-Champion Cynthia. And Steven’s pain at the moment was a lot greater than her own. She finally faced him, holding his gaze for the first time this evening. Trying to be as understanding as possible; it was obvious that he was very stressed out. “But really, what happened to Erika? If you want to talk about it, that is.”

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] lifted his head up at Cynthia, seeing her own concerned look. It was bad of him to make others worried of him, and even then, he was more worried of Erika than himself. With a sigh, Steven continued to say. "Well, I had to take down and have Erika arrested under suspicion of spying for Team Ultimatum..." he paused for a moment, taking off his reading glasses as he nodded to Basalt to fetch something to drink. "Which, to my own shock, she has confessed to."

Steven walked around to Cynthia's side as he began to read, mumbling under his breath as he did. It seemed that he kept himself under control, for the most part. As a matter of fact, he came to wonder when he'll be called back into Kanto again."I've been visiting her, myself. Questioning, keeping her company. It's a pretty harsh situation on her end, and I'm not wanting to have her sit there, cold and alone."

Basalt came to return with a tray of various refreshments, along with a bucket of ice on it's tail. With a smile, he helped the Aggron to an open table with the drinks, humming occasionally as he did. When it was all finished, he came to take one and took a small sip as the Hoenn champion invited Cynthia to join him. "I'm doing my best to keep things under control."[/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

How Aggron's poured drinks was far beyond Cynthia's understanding. But still, it was very kind of Basalt. She nodded her thanks to the large pokemon and touched his steel shoulder with her hand as she passed to sit at the table with Steven after she was done listening to him talk about Erika.

She said nothing as she poured herself a glass of water with some ice. Cynthia was too busy thinking. One of the league, betraying them? And no one had thought to tell Cynthia this. Not that she really knew Erika all too well. Sure, Gardenia, Erika, and her might have had a chat at one league meeting of some kind, but Cynthia really didn't know for sure. If she was remembering correctly, Erika had been polite, calm, and overall just nice. She could hardly even picture the grass leader of Kanto in league with her enemy. It just seemed so wrong.

"I'm so sorry. About Erika. I never even thought that..." She trailed off, not wanting to add to open wounds Steven must be suffering right then. The way he spoke of it, it seemed as though they were good friends. Good enough for Steven to care what happened to her. "I don't really know her all too well... But I might drop by some time. This is pretty big, she must be in a lot of pain and misery right now. Maybe I'll bring her some of Anubis's herbal tea..." Cynthia thought Erika would appreciate it. But still, the thought of betrayal troubled her.

"And we aren't in control anymore," Cynthia looked Steven right in the eye as she said it, and took a sip of her water. "I don't even know what to do. But I have to do something. I can't just let this happen. I won't stand to let them walk all over us, not now and not ever. Team Ultimatum is going to pay for its crimes, one member at a time." Cynthia surprised herself with her dark mood. What was she talking about? Normally, she wasn't nearly that morbid. But just the thought of Lucian, Flint, Bertha, or Aaron betraying them was too much for her to bear, not in her current state of mind. If anyone from the Sinnoh league was going to join Ultimatum, she didn'teven know how she would react. She wouldn't be happy, that was for sure. "I'm sorry for that, I'm just... so angry. You should have seen Giovanni, Steven. He was so confident, so sure of himself, so sure that he could beat me. It's like he knew it would happen. I'm telling you, this whole thing isn't what it seems."

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] Hoenn champion's finger trailed around the open circle of the glass as he heard Cynthia spoke. It was quite obvious that she was trying to avoid anything touchy, but he did understand the merit of her comfort. To be quite honest, Cynthia was the best person right now that he could vent to about something like this. He laid his hand on the Sinnoh champion's and held it loosely as he spoke, "Thank you. You're a very thoughtful person, Cynthia, and I very much lov-um...a-appreciate that."

Oh, was he slipping again? Steven was feeling quite idiotic at the last sentence spoken, blushing ever so slightly as he scratched his head. He listened to her again, he tone growing more darkened and enraged at recent events. Steven would be concerned, or even afraid, yet he knew he was feeling the very same of Team Ultimatum as Cynthia has. With a nod, Steven said, "It's alright, dear. I'm very much wanting to make as much efforts to stop Team Ultimatum as much as you do."

As Steven continued on, he wandered around the shelves, eyes each book as he did. "They're trying to destroy us from the inside, if one would believe. Trying to put doubt and paranoia in ourselves and each other. The best we can do, for anyone to do, is to bond and counter them together." as he finished, as turned to Cynthia with a faint smile. "...and I'm more than confidant that I can trust you."[/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

"Believe me when I say that the day I join those fools is the day I jump off Mount Mortar." She chuckled. But it gave her an idea. If Erika had been a double agent, then maybe they could get some kind of agent inside as well... But Cynthia forced herself to stop scheming and focused back on the conversation. "Steven, if I couldn't trust you, I might as well give up now. If I couldn't trust you, not only would we be screwed but then we could trust nobody then."

Cynthia looked back at Steven's lovely collection of books, a library to rival her own tattered books back in Sinnoh. "You wouldn't happen to be familiar with Machiavelli, would you? 'The end justifies the means;' 'I'm not interested in preserving the status quo, I want to overthrow it.' Wise words, powerful words, evil words. What Team Ultimatum is doing, it sounds a lot like the works in The Prince. They're just as ruthless, just as evil. They'll stop at nothing. And this isn't something that the league can stop. I know it in my heart that we will try and we will fail and it will all be over then. We have to be just as smart, just as cunning. We can't just let them win."

Hold on a minute. It was like she was lecturing Steven right now, this was definitely not the kind of conversation that someone wanted to have. "I'm sorry, lecturing again." She grinned and stood up, trying to change the conversation. "So, um, how have you been? I mean, besides the, you know... You seem so lon- I mean, you have quite a lovely collection of books here. I'm quite jealous."

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] couldn't help but smile at Cynthia's own sense. He always came to admire her will and her personality, ever since he came to hear tall tales of the Sinnoh champion. Her Pokemon, her many travels, the words she would say to aspiring trainers. The fact that she came to enjoy literature just as much as he did was nothing but icing on the cake. The woman would almost be considered a goddess.

Maybe this is why he was falling for her.

After he came to listen to her, his hand caressing his chin like a middle aged professor, he sighed and closed his eyes to think. "You are right of one thing, Cynthia. We need to plan and act, to become just as powerful as they are, and you and I wouldn't be able to do this alone. I refuse to simply bat my eye away at everything that's happened. I'm just afraid of what it would do...the danger it would pose, that it would plunge us into the same abyss as they did..."

He looked up. By the time he would even realize, it would seemed that the Sinnoh champion would want to change subjects. Steven chuckled a bit and apologized under his breath. "Um, yes, I came to really enjoy literature." he began to say as he took a pink and mysterious book from the library. "D-did I ever mention that I was a fan of romance?"[/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

“I do love a good romantic tale,” Cynthia blushed, her rather pale complexion lit up by a rosy red glow. She didn’t normally blush like this, not at all in fact. But being around Steven made her act, well, not like the usual Cynthia. She wondered vaguely why she hadn’t sought out to meet Steven before this, but she had met him now. And she was finally getting to know him. “I like romance, but only if it’s good romance.” And this revelation only made Cynthia blush more. “You know, like Pride and Prejudice or, um, Romeo and Juliet.” She looked down, knowing that her choice of books was rather old fashioned. But she liked the classics.

And Cynthia also knew that she had taken Steven by surprise when she switched the subject, but she didn’t really want to have that dark conversation with him. She’d much rather talk about something that didn’t make her want to cry or scream or that made her angry. And talking about Team Ultimatum made her just that. Maybe she’d just bring it up at the next League meeting… But with a silent gasp she realized that she wasn’t going to be going to any League councils. The knowledge hit her like a freight train and she staggered a little bit, using the table to regain her balance.

With a quick and reassuring smile, she righted herself and walked over to where Steven stood and looked at the book in his hand. “I’ve never read that one though, I believe. But it looks quite good…” She trailed off as she ran her hand over the cover and glanced at the other books Steven had kept so neatly before she finally looked back up at the Hoenn Champion. Cynthia looked down just as fast, knowing that she couldn’t hold his gaze for long without revealing her growing admiration for him.

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] I never quite knew you were into it too.", Steven replied to the Sinnoh champion, his blush glowing even more as he did. "I always tend to feel so silly when I admit it. Most boys would be more into sports or wanton Pokemon battling...", he paused as he looked into the pink book of his, smiling a bit. "As for me, I always felt...different."

Steven quickly looked up as Cynthia began to stagger, quickly running over to assist her with a spare hand. The whole thing happened so fast and unexpectedly that he felt a bit bad for not noticing sooner. Yet, she quickly regained herself before he would be of any real help. The next thing he noticed, he was still gripping her hand ever so softly, and so his heart began to beat like a thousand drums.

Cynthia looked to him, his boyish and embarrassing look of female admiration shining in all it's glory. As quickly as he came to notice, her voice snapped him back to reality, referring to the pink book he still had on him. "Oh, um, this? Funny you should say, this isn't exactly a book.", Steven explained, fondling the pages of the book loving. "It's my own journal. A habit I started in my own childhood...poems, inner thoughts, notes, all of the like..." [/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

"Thank you," Cynthia told Steven quietly. "I just realized- never mind," she eventually ended, not really wanting to bring up such a sad topic again. "It's not necessarily the genre I like. I always feel pretty pathetic when I read most romance novels. But I love classics, especially Jane Austen. Those are romantic books." She was oh so aware of his hand on hers, She smiled a bit and used her other hand to bring her water glass up to her lips and took a sip. It was cool and refreshing, and the liquid calmed her down quite a bit.

"I've never kept a journal." Cynthia shrugged, "It would be weird for me, writing everything down. I'm more the kind of person that just does things without thinking, and later looking back on it, I'd just grow to detest myself and my actions. But I am writing a book," She pulled out a small and worn leather-bound text to show Steven from a small bag (one of her few possessions she carried everywhere with her) that was almost hidden by her sweeping black clothes, "It's on the legendary pokemon of the world and their influence in current and past events. I'm just trying to document movements and behavioral patterns of the legendaries for future reference, in case anything like that is ever needed. Yeah, I'm not nearly done but it helps pass the time." Cynthia realized that this didn't sound nearly as interesting as she thought it would, "The legendaries have always interested me, it's the closest thing to a journal I have."

[STEVEN]

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[/color][/font] quite appreciate your taste in literature, Cyn." Steven said to her, before chuckling a bit. There I go, even giving her a pet nickname! I'm such a child... He looked to her leather book as she spoke on of the Legendary Pokemon, giving an even warmer glow to her smile. "Funny enough, I have just as much of a fascination of Pokemon mythology as you do, dear.", Steven began to say, pointing over to the far left of one the middle rows.

Legends. This was where he would come to store books of ancient times, of human and Pokemon. Letting his free hand guide through the volumes upon volumes of knowledge, a bit of personal nostalgia flowed through Steven, leaving a growing smile on his face.

He started to pull a rather large book out from the section, with a cover pastured with ancient drawings of many of the known Legendaries of the five regions. "It comes with the archaeology...how people came to see and worship these creatures had always fascinated me." he continued, flipping through the pages that would hold folk tales and pictures of structures and photos, long-lost. "One would say that we have quite a bit in common.", he softly whispered, unknowing of his reddening face. "...don't you think, Cyn?"[/div]

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[CYNTHIA]

Cynthia was quite a bit baffled by Steven's nickname for her. But it wasn't that that she didn't like it. It was just that no one had ever given her a nickname before. Maybe because she was somewhat intimidating, She didn't really know. She smiled at Steven, "If you call me Cyn, I get to call you Steve or Stevey. I haven't decided yet." She teased, following him as he went to find the books he obviously wanted to show her.

When they arrived at the books he had on Legendaries, Cynthia leaned over his shoulder to get a better look at the bookhe had open. It was a good book on Legends, she could tell. As he flipped through, she recognized some of the places in the pictures, she had been to most of them. Still, she wondered how Steven had acquired an interest in Legends, just like her. Maybe one day she would take him on one of her trips to the Legendary places of the world. Cynthia smiled at the thought.

"We do have a lot in common," Cynthia whispered back, even she knew that she was blushing.