Chapter 6:Mirrors
Ash felt his smile turn into a full-out grin as he took in a lung-full of the fresh air that seemed to be unique to Pallet Town. Ash had been to a lot of places in his life but no other place in the world gave him the feeling that excitement and adventure that was just over that next hill. But perhaps he was a little biased about his hometown, after all, he was sure Cynthia felt the same way about Celestic Town.
Speaking of his fiancee, she tightened her grip on his hand, no doubt to stop him sprinting to his mom's house as he usually did, what could he say, old habits die hard. "Ash, let's just enjoy the walk, okay?" Cynthia said with a smile, knowing full well his intentions, she had been left behind enough times to know what he was planning to do.
"Heh heh... sorry Cynthia," Ash chuckled, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand.
"You can be so silly sometimes," she laughed. "But I wouldn't have you any other way." She kissed him on the cheek. "So, why are you excited to see Delia? It's only been a month or so,"
"I know, I just love seeing her,"
(Me too!)
Ash turned his head slightly to face Pikachu. "No, you just love that she spoils you with ketchup!"
(And that's why I love seeing her!)
Cynthia just leaned her head against Ash's shoulder, listening to Ash and Pikachu's banter, which was a lot easier than it had been when they started dating. Ash had been a bit of a late bloomer, but he had a huge growth spurt a couple of years ago and the results were astounding.
He was eye-level with her nose, without her heels on, which might not have sounded like much, but considering that he was half her size when they first met, they both considered it a great improvement. The only downside was that it was a lot harder to "accidentally" pull his face against her chest when they hugged. Her Ashy was so easy to fluster back then, she thought with a smirk.
Cynthia focused back on Ash as he pocketed his X-Transceiver, she must have drifted off for a few minutes, distracted by memories of a much shorter, red-faced Ash. "Who was that?" She asked.
"It was Professor Oak, he wanted to talk to me about some research or something,"
"Will it take long?"
"An hour or so, maybe?"
"Do you want to head over to the lab and catch up later?"
"I don't know..."
"Oh, go on, it's only an hour. Besides, it gives me and Delia more time to look at baby photos and tell embarrassing stories about you,"
"Cynthia... you don't actually do that, do you?" Ash groaned.
"Well, you're our favourite subject, so feel flattered." She teased. They came to the fork in the road, one path that lead Professor Oak's Lab and the other leading to the twenty or so houses that made up Pallet Town. "I'll see you later. Love you," Cynthia whispered in his ear, Ash turned his head to meet her lips in a quick kiss.
"Love you too," Ash stood where he was for a moment, simply watching Cynthia walk, her waterfall of blonde hair moving gently in the soft breeze, fortunately not strong enough for her to need a coat, he was happy to report, enjoying the sight of Cynthia's hips swaying with the natural grace she exuded in nearly everything she did.
He was going to marry her, he reminded himself.
His ever-growing smile threatened to split his face and probably would have too, if Pikachu hadn't sent 1000 volts coursing through his body. Shaking off the jolt of lightning as if it was nothing, and at this point it really wasn't, people often joked that he was part ground-type. (Come on, the faster we get to the lab, the faster I get to eat, time is ketchup!)
Shaking himself out of his Cynthia-induced trance, he took the path that lead up the hill towards the lab. After a few minutes he arrived at the lab. Walking through the door, he was greeted by Tracey, Professor's Oak's assistant and a one-time travelling companion. "Hey Ash, long time, no see!"
"Hi Tracey, it's been a while, huh?"
"Are you looking for the professor?"
"Yeah, is he around?"
"He should be out back, he likes to walk around the ranch and observe the pokemon around this time,"
"Thanks Tracey."
Ash walked out onto the large green field where his pokemon liked to rest when they weren't training. He crept through the field as slowly as possible, keeping low to the ground, he swore softly as he snapped a twig underfoot. Why you ask? Well, the answer to that question was stampeding his way.
Even though he was being crushed under the feet, talons, etc, of 40+ pokemon, Ash couldn't help but laugh as his friends tried to turn him into an pancake. It seemed that they were always excited to see him, no matter how often. Charizard sent a small spout of fire at his hat that he barely managed to dodge, Primeape gave him the customary punch in the arm, he would probably get the feeling back in a couple of hours or so. Venusaur pulled Ash into a hug with his vines and Garchomp and Feraligatr gave him an affectionate nibble on his head, he should probably get a bandage for that.
"I missed you too, everybody!" He shouted over the cacophony of his pokemon's calls. "Has anyone seen Professor Oak?"
(Muk will bring Ash to Snuggles, follow Muk!) Muk called out, putting her larger arm into the air, before squelching off towards the forest. Ash followed Muk, Pikachu stayed behind, saying he wanted to catch-up with everybody. Ash and Muk tracked down the professor, who was taking notes on Lucario. Muk made their presence known by glomping the poor man. (I have returned, my moon and stars!)
"Hello, Muk," Professor Oak sighed. "And hello Ash,"
(Hello, Master,)
"Hello, Lucario, Professor, how are you?"
"Well, I'm as good as I can be," he gestured to Muk, who was whispering sweet nothings into the professor's ear, luckily Professor Oak couldn't understand pokemon as well as Ash, who was trying not to laugh.
"Come on, let's go back to the lab, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Not there, Muk! I thought we talked about this!"
Muk followed the two back to the lab, until Ash mentioned that Cynthia made a sandwich, just for her, then Muk fled as fast as an amorphous blob could.
Ash laughed to himself, even a pokemon comprised of toxic waste was wary of his fiancee's cooking, although her skill came along with leaps and bounds when she got some lessons and tips from Ash's mom. Delia had recently declared Cynthia's toast as "not too terrible". He would never forget the look of pure joy and pride on her face, after all, this was the woman whose cooking Ash held as the standard of all food, so it was an incredible complement to Cynthia.
Ash and the professor entered the main lab, the very same room where he met Pikachu for the first time. "So, what's this research you were talking about, Professor?"
"I'm glad you asked! Well, recently, Professor Rowan and I started a project. You may know that Professor Rowan is the leading expert on pokemon evolution, while I myself, am the expert on the relationships between pokemon and humans, but I'm sure you already know that! I'm sure you've read my articles, "Challenges Facing Anthro-Pokemon Co-Habitation" and "The Advantages And Rewards Of Having A Pokemon Outside It's Ball" in Pokemon Researcher Monthly! I actually based a lot of the article on you and Pikachu,"
"Have I read it?" Ash had no clue what the professor was talking about so he decided to tell a white lie and hope that Oak didn't notice. "Cynthia won't shut up about it! She thought it was great!"
"Cynthia enjoyed it, did she? Such an intelligent woman, you're a very young lucky man, you know. I'll have to discuss it with her later... Anyway, back to my main point.
As you know, there are many ways that pokemon evolve, through experience gained through battle being the most common. However what Professor Rowan and I were interested in are pokemon that evolve through unconventional means, like Eevee, which evolves with elemental stones, thunderstone, firestones, waterstones, at certain times of day and in certain areas."
"Right, with a elemental stone, an Eevee can evolve into a Jolteon, Flareon or Vaporeon, when trained enough at night or day, it can evolve into Umbreon or Espeon, and in a heavily wooded or icy area, it can evolve into Leafeon or Glaceon, right?"
"Exactly and recently we've discovered a new eeveelution in the Kalos Region,"
"Really? What's it called?"
"Well, it's part of the newly discovered fairy-type named Sylveon, with it's discovery, along with the discovery of several other pokemon, we've had to reclass many pokemon, such as Gardevoir, the Clefable evolution line and a few others, Gary was actually there when it was discovered and verified,"
"Wow," Ash relied, slightly stunned by the new knowledge. "Maybe I can talk Cynthia into taking a vacation in the Kalos Region this year," Probably not, knowing how much Cynthia loved her villa in Undella Town and how much he loved seeing her in a bikini, he thought with a small grin.
"Perhaps, but it's this pokemon that intrigue us the most, you see, it evolves when it has formed a strong relationship with it's trainer. Do you see? A pokemon that specifically evolves when bonded with a human!"
"Like Lucario," Ash nodded.
"Exactly like your Lucario! The tests I performed on you when you developed your "aura" abilities proved that you and Lucario share some traits,"
"What? We both eat too much too fast and wear the same clothes for months at a time?"
"I mean genetic traits, but yes, you do share some habits. You and Lucario have infinitely small similarities on a genetic level, which is impossible since you aren't related or even the same species! You mentioned that after you developed you skills with that Riley fellow, you felt some sort of calling towards Lucario while she was still a Riolu?"
"Yeah, Cynthia and I were hiking in the mountains near Celestic Town and I just felt...a pull and I found her,"
"You were drawn together subconsciously, the "aura", as you call it, within you helped you find Lucario and told Lucario that you could be trusted,"
"So, through some weird fluke of nature, Lucario and I have similar DNA and were therefore drawn together on a subconscious level somehow," Ash was getting really confused by now.
"Nope! And that's the incredible part! I performed a DNA test and Lucario when she hatched, remember?"
"Yeah, I wanted to know what kind of pokemon her father was since she knew Blaze Kick,"
"And the DNA was perfectly normal for a Riolu with an Infernape father, it was only when the two of you began to bond that the change began. Your DNA somehow mixed, or if you prefer, your "aura" reacted with the others and bonded together, when I tested your other pokemon, the results were the same, very, very small similarities with you,"
"Wait, I'm confused, if our aura only begins to change after we bond, what draws me and my pokemon together in the first place?"
Professor Oak frowned. "I don't know, magic?"
"Magic? Really, Professor?"
"Ash, for thousands of years, humans and pokemon have lived side by side, as friends, companions, co-workers, protectors, even brothers-in-arms. Whole civilisations and religions have been based around the mysteries of pokemon. A few of these religions still exist, the Arceun religion being the most prominent, after all, nearly written in their scriptures has been proven to happen,
But, you must understand, for every question we learn the answer to, a thousand new ones pop up. That's why I love my job, Ash. Because even if we never learn all the answers, for everything we do learn, it helps us to understand just a little bit more about these magnificent creatures that I've devoted my life to. I know that everything about pokemon can't be explained by science, not yet anyway, but until we can, I'm just going to say it's magic, because in a way, it is."
After spending the next hour throwing around various theories, neither of them could come up with any that made any sense. Ash and Oak decided that they spent enough time creating increasingly silly ideas.
After a quick goodbye to his pokemon and Tracey, Ash headed for his mom's house deep in thought. Pikachu decided to stay with the other pokemon, not wanting his sleep interrupted by the sound of human mating.
Honestly, Pikachu had no idea how humans were the most numerous species on the planet. If Pika Pi and Cynthia's coupling was anything to go by, their mating rituals lasted for months and even after years of mating, not even a hint of an egg.
'Maybe I should ask Cynthia, she might know something about this...' He pondered. He and his pokemon were not just bonded on a spiritual and emotional level, but somehow a genetic level too, no matter how small. He supposed that Pikachu was right, he kind of was his Pika Pi, a phrase that he learned from one of his and Pikachu's late night conversations, meant, and this was a rough translation to human, "Litter Kin" or sibling, whether it was a male or female depended on the emphasis on the "Pi".
And Professor Oak also mentioned that he and his pokemon shared some habits? Another thing to ask Cynthia, she was more observant than he was, maybe she noticed some things. You know, thinking about it, he sometimes noticed that she and her pokemon seemed to shared some traits...
Ash walked through the front door, greeting the ever sweeping Mr. Mime, or Mimey, as he had been nicknamed.
"Hey, Mimey, where's Mom and Cynthia?"
(Ah, young Master Ash,) Mimey greeted. (I believe that the lady of the manor has retired to the kitchen with Miss Cynthia, they are having quite a grand old time, looking at photographs whilst sharing humorous tales of the young master's adventures,) His statement was punctuated with sudden, loud laughter he recognised as Cynthia and his mother.
"So, I walk into the kitchen, what's left of it anyway, and Ash is staring at his hands and Aaron is just standing there with the most shocked look that I've ever seen and all I can think is 'I have no clue what's happened but Arceus, please let the freezer be okay!'" Cynthia managed to say through her laughter.
"Hahahahaha, oh, that Ash! More tea, Cynthia?"
"Yes, thanks Delia,"
Ash smiled to himself. He was glad that his mom and fiancee got on so well, despite the fact that Cynthia had been downright terrified at the prospect of meeting her. He wasn't sure what got her over her fear, he just knew it involved a broken teacup and a deeply blushing Cynthia being hugged tightly by his mom, who was crying in delight because her little boy finally found a strong woman to take care of him.
"Here's a good one, my husband and I taking Ash home from the hospital,"
"He's so cute!"
"And here he is, having his first bath..."
That was probably the time to interrupt, Ash thought. He walked into the kitchen, deciding to ignore Cynthia slipping the picture of him taking a bath into her trouser pocket for later.
"I'm back,"
"Oh, hi, honey," Delia smiled.
"What's going on in here?" He asked.
"Oh, you know, not a lot... just talking...drinking tea," Cynthia answered as she tried to suppress a smile.
"Riiiight,"
Delia stood up from the table she and Cynthia were sitting at, picking up the photo albums scattered around the table. "So, I'm going upstairs to pack these away, you two can entertain yourselves, right?"
"We'll find something Delia, don't worry," Delia left the kitchen and Cynthia led Ash into the living room. He sat down on the couch while she began to rummage through a drawer next to the TV.
"So, you want to watch a movie or something? Delia has some pretty good ones. A few of my favourites are here, The Giant Woman, The Magic Door, the original and the remake, Love And Battles..."
"Yeah, let's not watch that one," Ash mumbled.
"Why, because you cry every time we watch it?" She smiled as she sat beside Ash, leaning her body against his and lying her head against his shoulder.
"I don't cry... I just think that, you know..."
"Yeah, you cry," Cynthia reaffirmed, wrapping her arms around her fiance.
"He was trying to help his girlfriend regain her memories and guess what? They're both dead!"
Cynthia twisted her head to place her lips on Ash's neck and nibbled gently on it. Smiling slightly in satisfaction when he shuddered, she said "Alright, we'll watch something else, okay? What do you want to watch?"
"I think I have some movies I left behind in my room from when I moved out,"
"We're staying the night, right?"
"Well, it's kind of late, so I guess so,"
"Good, I love sleeping in your old bed,"
"Why? It's so small, you practically have to sleep on top of me..." He tailed off, purposely.
Cynthia took the bait, slowly bringing her lips towards his. She held her lips above his, a mere centimetre separating them from the familiar pleasure of their lips and tongues colliding, waiting to see who would give in first. "Maybe I just love being close to you?" She breathed.
Her warm breath caressing his face and the sweet scent of her hair did him no favours in resisting the blonde valkyrie sitting in his lap. 'C'mon, Ash, just a few seconds longer,' Strengthening his resolve, he pulled her chest against his and whispered, "Oh, and just how close would you like to be?"
Cynthia began to grind her hips into Ash's and opened the bottom buttons on her sleeveless shirt, encouraging his hands to explore her milky-white torso, which one hand did, the other reaching around to grab a handful of her firm ass.
She ran her tongue on the outer shell of his ear, running her hands through his hair after removing his hat. "As close as possible, Ashy," She half-moaned into his ear. The way she used his childhood nickname did things to him that he just couldn't explain. And she knew it. Instantly regretting what he was about to do, he promised himself he would make it up to Cynthia, he would make it up to her hard.
He quickly stood up and turned around and unceremoniously dumped Cynthia on the couch. An actual growl came from the blonde beauty's throat. "Sorry, Cyn, but I believe we have a movie to watch, besides Mom's probably still awake, and you know what happened last time..."
Cynthia growled again. "Tease," she muttered, darkly. She followed him out of the room and up the stairs into his old bedroom. Not much had changed over the years. The walls were still decorated with posters of various pokemon or well-known trainers, the shelves still held quite a few pokemon plushies, the place of honour, the shelf over his bed, was held by a large Pikachu doll, beside his bed was an Electrode alarm clock that actually exploded if the snooze button was pressed too often.
A shelf next to the room's TV held what must have been a hundred or more DVD boxes, nearly all of them were recordings of Pokemon League matches from across the five regions, Cynthia was surprised to find that a few of her matches lined the shelf. "I didn't know you had these," she said, holding the DVDs.
"Oh, those? My mom got those when I told her you took me as an apprentice, she wanted to know what kind of person you were. Mom always said the best way to know someone is to know how they fight,"
"She said that? It sounds like a martial artist would say,"
"Believe it or not, my mom used to be a Gym Leader in Saffron City, it's how she met my dad, actually,"
"Wow, I didn't expect that," Cynthia found it a bit hard to associate the sweet, gentle woman with any kind of violence.
"Yep, back then, she was the leader of the Saffron City Fighting Gym, before it closed down and was replaced with a Psychic Gym,"
"I had no idea," Cynthia replied.
"Here's one I haven't watched in a while,"
"Crobat-Man? You guys are really into you're superheroes, aren't you?" Personally, she blamed Flint.
"I don't know, I guess I always just liked the idea of being able to do what a pokemon can,"
"And now you can fire balls of pure life-force from your hands," she reminded him.
"Yeah, funny how things work out sometimes," Ash laughed. "C'mon, let's watch this,"
An hour into the film, Ash's focus was on Crobat-Man, who was about to take on the Empoleon. He was interrupted, however by the woman with her head in his lap poking him in the stomach. "Hey, Ash?"
He looked down at Cynthia. "Yeah?"
Cynthia held up an empty bowl. "Can you get me another bowl of ice-cream, please?"
"Yeah, sure, but isn't this your fourth one?"
Cynthia's eye narrowed imperceptibly, he wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the years he spent studying her face and all her expressions. "Yes, so?" Ash sighed. It would take a braver, or stupider, person to confront Cynthia about her ice-cream problem, the latter being more likely than the former.
Ash took the bowl from her. "Chocolate please, with caramel sauce, if you have it," she asked. "That's my favourite," she added as an afterthought.
"I thought plain vanilla was your favourite?" He knew her tastes switched a while back, but never brought it up.
Cynthia looked up into Ash's face, her grey eyes gazing into her lover's brown ones. "I changed my mind," she smiled softly. Ash leaned down and Cynthia raised her head to meet her fiance in a deep kiss. When they broke apart, Ash licked a bit of chocolate off of his lip and smiled as Cynthia shivered in a way that had nothing to do with the coldness of the ice-cream.
"And you can have another one when you get back with my ice-cream, lover-boy," she giggled.
"Yes, ma'am," Ash murmured. He disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, returning with a fresh bowl of chocolate ice-cream with caramel sauce drizzled over it. Cynthia put a small spoonful of ice-cream on her tongue and dipped her index and middle fingers into the sauce and smeared it across her lips. She grabbed Ash's head and pulled his face towards her's.
Their lips crash together, furiously working against the other's pair. Ash's tongue ran over Cynthia's lips, licking off the sauce, while at the same time, asking for entrance to her mouth, which she granted. Ash leaned back a bit, allowing Cynthia to push the piece of ice-cream in with her tongue. The sensation of cold ice-cream combined with the heat of their lover's hot tongue made them both moan into each other's mouth.
They kept pushing the ice-cream back and forth until it melted and then began to clean it from the other's mouths. They pulled apart, chests heaving and glassy-eyed. "Damn" Cynthia stated simply.
"I'll say," Ash smirked.
Cynthia jabbed him in the arm. "Isn't it weird that the best kisses we have seem to involve ice-cream?" Cynthia rested her head back on Ash's lap, smirking to herself as Ash tried to shift himself so she wouldn't feel his obvious reaction to their kiss.
"Well, I'm..ah..not complaining, are you?"
"No, after all, if it wasn't for ice-cream, you never would have kissed me and we wouldn't be getting married and I'd have to sleep in a big empty bed all by myself with no-one to chase away my loneliness. Sleeping with you is much more fun," Cynthia's tone turned much softer. "And I always sleep better when I'm with you,"
"And if it wasn't for you, I'd still be wandering region to region, losing to brand new trainers and their starter pokemon, instead of being a Champion and your soon-to-be husband," Ash said as he began to stroke her oh-so-soft hair.
"Say that again," Cynthia commanded.
"What, the husband part?"
"Mmm.." She murmured as she closed her eyes.
"I'm going to be your husband, Cynthia," he whispered into her ear. "And you're going to be my wife," Cynthia let out a happy sigh.
"Husband, my husband," she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly. "Mine!"
Ash chuckled. It really was cute how Cynthia could get a bit jealous or possessive sometimes. Why? No other woman could ever hold a candle to her. Of course, others might not see Cynthia's jealousy as cute, the only reason that waitress didn't sue was because she suffered short-term memory loss.
They stayed silent for a while, simply enjoying having the other close. "So what did Professor Oak what to talk to you about?" Cynthia eventually spoke.
"What? Oh, something about how certain pokemon evolve when they bond with a human and what that could mean for other pokemon,"
"You mean Aura Bond?"
"Aura Bond?" Ash asked curiously.
"It was something Riley mentioned once, it think the way he put it was, when two humans with different points of view come together, their outlooks change, right?"
"Right, go on,"
"Well, if people are always changing when they come into contact with other people, why should it be different with pokemon? Only in a pokemon's case, it physically changes,"
"Hmm, still not sure I understand,"
"Neither am I, I always ignored Riley when he went into Jedi mode,"
"He said something about pokemon and trainers sharing traits,"
Cynthia cracked open an eye and gave Ash an appraising look. "Yeah, I can see that," she nodded.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, all trainers are similar to their pokemon, it's the same for old married couples or anybody who spends a lot of time together, but you and your pokemon, before you even met were already similar, it's strange,"
"Like what?"
Cynthia sat up. "Well, the most obvious is Pikachu. You both have that never give up attitude, that fire in your eyes that never goes out. Even when I was trying to drive you crazy when you first became my apprentice, no matter what 'test' I put you through, you two ate up whatever I threw at you,"
"Okay, that's one example..."
"Should I go on? Because there are a lot of examples, like Feralygatr, you always try to make everyone around you happy and you usually do, although you mess up sometimes," she finished with a small smile.
"First off, I didn't know that she was going to tell the newspapers, second, I had no idea that they were going to take it so out of context, thirdly, are you ever going to let that go?"
"Not when the Four bring it up every five minutes, how did that headline go again? Oh yes, " Mistress Cynthia?: Is Champion Shirona A Closet BDSM Enthusiast?" Last time I ever I send you out for tampons," she huffed.
"Again, I'm sorry,"
"Anyway, Venusaur and you always try to help everyone, whether it's settling and argument or saving someone's life, you put your whole being into changing people's lives for the better, it's times like that I think that you would make..." Cynthia trailed off, her pale cheeks turning a shade of pink. She turned her face into Ash's stomach to hide her blush.
"Cynthia?" Ash looked down at her, slightly worried.
"I-it's nothing!" Cynthia was glad she managed to catch herself, if she continued, she would've told Ash that he had all the qualities of a great father. She wasn't sure how Ash would react to that.
Sure, they had discussed children before, after a small scare a couple of years ago, back when Ash had yet to become Champion, before they got engaged.
They both decided that having a child wouldn't be the best choice at the time, but they were getting married soon and as she mention to herself a few times, Ash would make a great dad...and once, for fun, she thought about how their possible child would look... But those thoughts were for another day, not today, but soon.
"Cynthia?" Ash's voice broke her from her reverie.
"What? Oh, right. Well, another obvious one is Snorlax. Seriously, you shovel down food like an Excadrill shovels dirt!"
"No, I don't!" Ash replied indignantly.
"Okay, admittedly, your table manners have improved. But I can't see how, even with all the exercise and training we do daily, you don't put on a single pound! If I could eat whatever I liked and never had to worry about putting on weight..." Cynthia's mind drifted off again, taking her to a mountain the size of Mt. Coronet, made entirely of ice-cream, armed with nothing but a spoon and a can of whipped cream...
"...hia? Cynthia? Wake up, Cynthia!" Ash's voice interrupted her thoughts yet again. She subtly wipe a small amount of drool from her mouth and looked up towards Ash. "You alright?"
"Yeah, fine,"
"Ice-cream Mountain?" He asked.
"Ice-cream Mountain," she confirmed. "Next up is Infernape. When you battle, you look so happy, you just enjoy being with your pokemon, your eyes light up, even when you fought Alder, it was easy to see how much fun you all were having. It makes me happy everytime I see you like that, it reminds me how lucky we are to have found each other,"
Ash blushed faintly from her praise and began to stroke her hair again. "I love, Cynthia,"
"And I love you, Ash. So, finally, Charizard, you work together so well, in perfect harmony, destroying anyone foolish enough to stand in your way. I don't know what it is, but when you two battle together, mmm, Mama likes!"
"What? Really?" Ash asked, surprised.
"Well, yeah, you're a powerful, handsome man and when you and Charizard battle, everyone knows it. And the knowledge that the strong, handsome man down on the field is my property... It really gets me going," Cynthia purred as she began to plant kisses on Ash's neck.
"So, I'm your property, am I?" Ash replied, playfully.
"Oh, yes. After you became my apprentice, your ass was mine. Our upcoming marriage just makes it legally binding, sweetie!" Cynthia rested her hands on Ash's thighs and leaned in for another heated kiss. "I own you, Ash Ketchum, don't you forget it!" She finished with an award-winning smile.
"So, does that mean I own you, Cynthia?"
"Don't be so chauvinistic!" She jokingly admonished.
"Yes, dear,"
"But yes, I own you mind, body and soul, it's only fair it works the other way around,"
"Whatever happened to the woman who would only tell me that she loved me when she thought I was asleep?" Ash teased.
"You stayed awake, that's what," It was true, while Cynthia could be very physically affectionate, it took her awhile before she got comfortable with the more emotional side of their relationship. And while the physical side was very enjoyable, don't get him wrong, he would never forget the first time Cynthia told him she loved him.
"Okay, now you do me," She crossed her arms and sat back.
"Um, okay, Garchomp, powerful, deadly and just plain awesome like you. But I don't see any similarities besides that, strange, considering she's your first pokemon,"
"Oh, we're a lot more alike than you think," Cynthia muttered under her breath, unfortunately for her, Ash heard.
"What do you mean, Cynthia?"
"Well, you know how Garchomp hates you?"
"She doesn't hate me! In fact, I think I'm beginning to grow on her, possibly..."
"She hates you,"
"She hates me," Ash nodded.
"I think if we had met before I became Champion, I would've hated you too," she said, not meeting his eyes.
"Really?"
"Ash, I told you before what I was like back then, angry at the world, always trying to pick fights, I didn't care about anyone but myself. If fourteen-year-old me met eleven-year-old you, a boy who always believes that there's good in people, even if it's buried deep down, I would've kicked your ass,"
"Yeah, probably," Ash chuckled. "I was kind of a pain back then,"
"You didn't change much from when you were a kid, from what I heard. You're still a little dork who would do anything for his friends or complete strangers. And even though I would've kicked the crap out of you to teach you some sense, that's the main reason I fell for you,"
"Would you have really beaten me up?"
"I would've made you my bitch, Ashy, " Cynthia said with a seductive half-smile.
"You probably would've warmed up to me eventually, right?"
"Oh, no doubt! You always make the people around you like you,"
"Except for your grandpa and Team Rocket,"
"Speaking of Team Rocket, did you send them the invites?" Cynthia asked.
"Yeah, they're coming,"
"Good. And what are you talking about, Grandpa loves you!" She exclaimed.
"Really? Because all those death threats made it pretty clear he disapproves of you and me being together," He said with uncertainty in his voice.
"You're still alive, aren't you?" She said with a thin, raised eyebrow.
"Well, yeah, but..." He wanted to say not for lack of trying, but Cynthia interrupted him.
"See, he loves you! Besides, if Grandpa disapproves, that means you're forbidden and every girl wants a bad boy," she whispered.
"I stole a boat once," he reminded her in a husky voice as he circled his arms around her waist.
Cynthia let out a girlish sigh. "Oh, you naughty boy!" She exclaimed. "But don't worry, I can change you!" They both laughed.
"Okay, keep going," she told him.
"Alright, Roserade. You're both graceful, in and out of battle. Honestly, it's a pleasure just to watch you walk and don't get me started on when you dance or when we spar,"
"Are you sure the pleasure isn't just checking out my ass? Don't think I couldn't tell that you were looking earlier," Cynthia smirked.
"I won't deny that's part of it, but really, I just love watching you move, you're the epitome of poise and grace," Ash paused for thought for a second. "Except for maybe that time you stumbled into my room drunk or when you wake up in the morning, your hair looking like a ratatta's nest, looking for your bra," Ash returned her smirk.
Cynthia flushed with embarrassment. "I wasn't even that drunk,"
"You thought my bed was your jeep and tried to drive home,"
"Shut up!"
"Cynthia how much vodka did you drink?" Ash changed his voice into a poor imitation of Cynthia's, slurring heavily. "Um, this many!" "Only three shots?" "No, those glasses are too tiny, three bottles!"
Cynthia buried her face in Ash's shoulder. "Jerk!" Came her muffled cry.
"I'm just kidding, you're a hilarious drunk,"
Cynthia just muttered something along the lines of "Never drinking again!"
"Next up, Gastrodon,"
Cynthia raised her head. "What you're about to say will decide if I'm going to stumble around for my bra in the morning, so answer carefully," she said with narrowed eyes.
"What I mean is you're both alike in battle,"
"Pink and slimy?" Cynthia questioned with a wry grin.
"No, that's you after training," Ash laughed. "Ow! No, what I mean is, you always have your strategy planned out at least six moves ahead, you stand firm like a ground-type and execute your plan to the letter, but, if something unexpected comes up, you can easily change your strategy, like a river changing course to compensate and still destroy your opponent with minimal effort, like a crashing tsunami,"
"You know, it's only since I met you that I've had to alter my strategies, you always manage to mess up my plans,"
"Yeah. So, Spiritomb's next, you're both mysterious, dark and scary to those that don't know you, but in reality, you're big balls of sunshine to the people who know you,"
"You were never frightened of me, were you?" Cynthia asked, turning her head to face him.
"Remember that time in the hotel room when you intentionally tried to scare the crap out of me?"
"Oh, yeah, that was fun!"
"I'm glad you found it funny, I was worried your were going to kill me for some reason," Ash huffed.
"Oh, I'm sorry baby, did the big, bad Champion give you a little fright?" She laughed as she moulded her body against Ash's. "Let me kiss you better," Cynthia began to licked Ash's lips, hoping to entice him into opening up. She was taken by surprise when Ash grabbed the sides of her face and pushed his tongue into her mouth, quickly forcing her own tongue into submission. Cynthia's arms held tightly onto Ash's back, moaning into his mouth.
Eventually they broke apart, Ash with a satisfied smile and Cynthia with a flushed face, running her tongue over her lips to pick up any left over trace of her lover's taste. "I forgive you,"
"Oh, Ashy, you know how I get when you take control," She snuggled into his side again.
"Sorry,"
"Don't be, I remember when you couldn't even look at me without blushing!" Ash's cheeks darkened, thinking back to a time when his hormones finally hit him, that glorious summer when Cynthia had taken to wearing a pair of denim short-shorts and happened to bend down a lot...right in front of him... You know thinking about it, those shorts may have been one of Cynthia's legendary seduction plots, something the Elite Four still laughed about to that day.
"Yeah, just like that!"
"Well, you can't blame me! My beautiful, blonde, older mistress decided that I would be the lucky soul that she would grant the honour of receiving her affections, most of the time, I'm sure you can understand why I was a bit shy,"
"I loved it when you got all tongue-tied, it made me think that maybe you felt the same way I did," Cynthia said with a shy smile that made his heart race.
"I always thought you were beautiful, inside and out, it's almost impossible not to fall in love with you," Cynthia turned her face away, her hair covering most of her blush. If there was one thing she both hated and loved about Ash, it was his ability to make her feel like a thirteen-year-old girl, the worst thing was he didn't even know what he did to her.
"Then, like Umbreon, you're mysterious, cool, calm, the only difference between you and an umbreon is that umbreon aren't black by choice,"
"Well, I've always loved umbreon and I sort of modelled myself on them, it started when Emily gave me my hairclips," Cynthia gestured to the clips. "I went through a little goth phase when I was younger, as you know,"
Ash sniggered. "A little? I saw the pictures, Cynthia. I think it was more than a little,"
Cynthia sighed. "I knew letting Grandma bring over that photo album was a mistake,"
"You were cute, with your little scowl and black lipstick and eye-shadow," Ash smiled as Cynthia gave him an evil glare. "Yeah, just like that! I bet you were glad that you're so naturally pale,"
"Ass," was her only reply.
"And finally, Milotic." Ash pulled her into a hug and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. He buried his face in her hair, taking in her delicious fragrance. "You're the most beautiful, perfect person I've ever met,"
Cynthia pulled away and kissed him on the cheek. "Ash Bill Ketchum..."
"That's not my middle name," Ash interrupted.
"Not important. Ash, I'm so glad I met you,"
"Me too," Ash glanced at the TV, the movie had long since ended, Cynthia's bowl of ice-cream, melted into soup. It could wait until tomorrow. He stood up, scooping Cynthia into his arms, in a bridal fashion. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.
"What are you doing?" She giggled.
"I'm practising. Come on, let's get to bed,"
"Yes, let's," she replied as she leaned her head against his chest. "But don't think you're getting any sleep tonight," Ash smiled, noticing the lustful look in his fiance's eyes.
"Are you sure? If we're up all night, we'll have to spend all of tomorrow recuperating in that cramped bed..."
"I don't mind..."