Chapter 8:Marked
I don't own Pokemon
Not a lot had changed, Ash reflected, as Cynthia's arm tightened around his chest in an attempt to pull him closer into her sleeping form. They still trained together, fought together, slept together, eliminated criminal organisations together and watched movies on her bed together. The only thing that had really changed was the kissing, her exact words when they became a couple were, "Ash, this isn't going to change anything, I'm still Cynthia, you're still Ash, we're still mistress and apprentice, we're still friends, the only difference is the kissing, trust me, we're going to be doing that a lot more often from now on." A few weeks after that, that statement had been amended to include sex as well.
The only real differences was the intensity of the training and fighting, before they were a couple he had no idea that she was holding back, but now she had no reason to, after all, the boyfriend of Cynthia Shirona could be nothing less than her equal.
And now, when they shared a tent or bed, instead of try to keep as far away from the other as possible, they now actively tried to fuse their bodies together, Cynthia once mentioned that it was hard for her to sleep well unless they were touching in some way, so consciously or not, they nearly always work up with Cynthia's long legs wrapped around his, her soft chest pressed against his side and her nose trying to burrow its way into his throat.
The same with watching Cynthia's terrible, not that he'd ever tell her, romantic films, when a particularly heated kissing scene came up, instead of sideways glances and awkward blushes, they would try their best to outdo the actors, usually not stopping until the credits ended.
But she still held him the same way she did when he cried after they infiltrated that first Team Rocket base together.
Another difference was that Cynthia was much more open, physically. Now, she was very affectionate, nearly constantly in contact with him in some form or another. He never would have guessed that Cynthia was so into cuddling.
When it came to being more intimate, Cynthia, despite her own inexperience with sex, or maybe because of it, was the adventurous type. Since they first had sex, Cynthia wanted to take any chance they could get to do it. There were times when her inner perfectionist annoyed Ash, this was not one of those times.
Ash had been slightly scared of taking the next step with Cynthia. His beautiful, smart, talented, could have any man or woman she wanted, girlfriend wanted him. To have sex. With her.
It was a lot of pressure. It forced her to resort to some fairly silly plots to entice him. From the classic "accidentally" let him see me naked coming out of the shower" to having Spiritomb implant dreams of them having sex into Ash's mind. The less said about that, the better.
Finally, Cynthia realised that Ash's reluctance to further their relationship wasn't because of something she said or did, something she feared, but just an extreme case of first-time jitters.
After a heart-to-heart where Ash and Cynthia discussed Ash's worries and a few of her own, they decided that going straight for sex was a mistake and they began to discover the wonderful world of foreplay and oral sex. Again, Cynthia's need to practice something until she perfected it was a godsend.
Ash wasn't quite as adventurous with Cynthia's body, despite her encouragement. But she was patient, allowing him to explore at his own pace. And the wait had been worth it.
The sight of Cynthia writhing on the bed, her hips bucking into his hand, her velvet sheath tightening around his fingers, her eye half-lidded with desire, one hand gripping the bedsheets, the other helping him to massage her breasts, her voice ragged with want, chanting his name barely above a whisper, a scream of pure lust as she violently exploded on his fingers and her red-faced embarrassment as he went on to clean himself and her with his tongue. It was better than winning all the Gym badges in the world.
Ash felt Cynthia stir and looked down at her drowsy eye. "Morning." He greeted her.
"S'too early for morning..." She tiredly replied, raising a hand to wipe at her eye. She stretched her arms out as well as she could in her current position and yawned, twisting her neck left and right. "What time is it?" She asked.
"'Bout 10 I think?"
"Hmm. So what are you doing today while I'm discussing the next Conferences with the other four Champions?" Cynthia enquired while rubbing her face into her boyfriend's chest, breathing in his scent.
"I don't know, Brock told me he's in Eterna City, maybe I'll take the day off and head over there."
"That'll be fun, it's been a while since you've seen Brock, right?"
"Yeah, not since the party."
"Remember when I walked in behind you and said I was your girlfriend and he fainted?" She laughed.
"Yeah... How does someone faint while running across a room anyway?"
"At least Brock knows when to back off, unlike that weirdo, Alder. He's been hitting on me since the day I turned eighteen." She sighed.
"I don't know how you put up with him." Ash grumbled.
"Maybe you should beat him up so he knows to keep his hands off the merchandise?" She said with a small grin.
"I'm not jealous or anything, I just don't like it when other guys...y'know, it's annoying!"
"That's a shame, I'd like to see you get all possessive..." Cynthia mused as she got out of bed and pulled out a fresh pair of panties and matching bra from the drawers next to the bed.
"Like you do?"
"Me? Jealous? Ash, I'm Cynthia Shirona, why on Earth would I ever be jealous?" She asked, striking a pose that showed off every curve of her body and flicking her hair, somehow making it look effortless. "Besides, you're utterly devoted to me, aren't you Ashy~" she laughed seductively, trailing a finger along his jaw. "Well, I'm gonna jump in the shower."
"Need help scrubbing those "hard to reach places?"" He asked with a suggestive grin.
"Thanks for the offer, but I actually want to get out of this bedroom today. Besides," she leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I've had plenty of practice getting those "hard to reach places." Although I always imagine it's you..." She kissed him on the shoulder and walked into the bathroom.
Ash held in his wince until she closed the door. He rubbed his shoulder, glad that she hadn't drawn blood last night. There was another, small, minor, nothing important really, change that came with his relationship with Cynthia. The thing was, when they were *intimate*, Cynthia sort of liked to... bite.
The first time, he hadn't noticed, too caught up in the pleasure of being inside her, but for Cynthia, it was incredibly painful, wanting to help her cope with the pain, he offered to let her bite down on his shoulder to stifle her groans of pain.
But she hadn't stopped there, no, Cynthia took it upon herself to mark every inch of her new lover's neck and shoulder that she could reach. In a week, the right side of Ash, from his neck, to his collar bone, to his shoulder was covered in teeth marks and love bites. One or two looked like they might even scar.
He didn't know why she did it, the strange mix of pain and pleasure kept his mind off of asking and afterwards, the giggly, post-orgasmy pile of goo in his arms was more than enough to clear his mind of anything but her.
"Maybe I should ask Brock, he knows about women." Ash spoke aloud, completely ignorant to the fact that Brock really had no clue about women when they travelled together. Luckily, he skills with the opposite sex grew considerably after he became joined a programme to become a pokemon doctor. So maybe he would know something, it was worth a shot at least.
"Did you say something?" Cynthia asked while drying off her hair. Don't ask how she was able to wash and dry her hair so quickly. Just don't. Ash was certain that Cynthia's hair broke a few laws of physics when pulled it into a ponyta-tail. Washing and drying it in record time was nothing to her.
"Nothing, Cyn."
"Come on, get up, I'm hungry." She told him, throwing her towel in his face.
After a quick breakfast, they climbed to the top of the Champion's Tower, to the large garden that Bertha had created and maintained with Aaron's help. Cynthia released Garchomp from her pokeball. Giving Ash a quick kiss, she climbed onto Garchomp's back. "See you tonight, Cynthia."
"Ash?"
"Yeah?"
"I..l..I'll see you later..." Cynthia uttered in a slightly defeated voice. "Yeah, see you later, Cyn." Garchomp leapt off the edge of the building, speeding off into the distance with the speed of a jet, carrying Cynthia with her. Ash sighed. He and Cynthia had been together for just under three months now, and he was certain about how he felt about Cynthia and he was sure about how she felt about him. Saying how they felt was the problem.
Cynthia made him promise that if he felt that she was pressuring him to do something that he was uncomfortable with, then he would say something. And it worked, if they found something the other was wary of, they would discuss it and overcome it together. This was different though. It made sense to Ash to let Cynthia dictate the pace of their relationship, what with her being older and if she told him that she...felt very strongly for him, then he would tell her.
Cynthia, due to something that happened when she was young, found it hard to say the L-word, even to her own family. It wasn't that she didn't feel that way about him. Ash *knew* that she did. It was just difficult for her and he wouldn't make her say anything unless she wanted to, although it was a bit frustrating for both of them.
Shaking his head, Ash descended the building, walking into the forest that made up most of Shouri Island, an island north of Sunnyshore City and east of Lily of the Valley Island. "Pikachu! Pidgeot! Are you there? I need you guys!" Ash shouted.
After a few moments of calling, a familiar weight leapt onto Ash's shoulder with a cry of "Pika pika!" Seconds later, a large gust of wind alerted them to Pidgeot's arrival.
Pidgeot landed next to Ash gently nuzzling his cheek. (Is it time for another aerial combat lesson, Ash?) She asked. (Oh, I'm so busy today, Glalie, Donphan and Pupitar were up all night because of that idiot Gengar telling scary stories, Snorlax devoured my favourite berry bush, not just the berries, the WHOLE bush and Heracross won't stop trying to suck Meganium, she doesn't mind, but still, it's indecent!)
"Woah, calm down Pidgeot! It sounds like you could use a break, huh?"
(A break sounds nice, what do you have in mind?)
"How about we fly to Eterna City together?"
(Really? It's been so long since we've flown together, just the two of us...)
(And me...Pikachu...adorable sidekick and constant companion...) Pikachu muttered.
(Oh, yeah...and you... Anyway, climb on board.) Ash mounted Pidgeot, while she moved her wings about, limbering them up. (You're a lot heavier than last time, time to put that wing strengthening training to the test!) With a beat of mighty wings, Pidgeot to the skies, heading south-west to Eterna City.
The training had definitely paid off, Pidgeot and her passengers made it to the city of living history in record time. "Take us down by the pokemon center, Pidgeot!" Ash shouted over the wind rushing past his ears. Pidgeot landed, her wings kicking up some dust. "Do you want to fly around while we go inside?"
(Oh, yes please, I'm so glad to get a chance to fly without anyone needing me!) She took off again, in the direction of Eterna Forest, promising to find them later. It always amazed Ash how unique his pokemon were. When Pidgeot rejoined him, her flock of pidgey and pidgeotto had learned to take care of itself, they didn't need to rely on her for protection and she felt frustrated for lack of anything to do, so she was glad to return to Ash, quickly becoming a mother figure to the more immature pokemon and helping Venusaur to mediate and keep the peace between Ash's pokemon. But just because Pidgeot had a maternal side didn't mean that she wasn't a fierce warrior of the sky, the skills and experience she gained under Ash's training and leading a flock only grew under the tutelage of Cynthia's braviary.
"Let's go find Brock." Ash and Pikachu entered the center and walked up to the front desk. "Welcome to the pokemon center. Would you like heal you pokemon?" The smiling Nurse Joy greeted.
"No thanks, I'm actually looking for Brock Slater. Is he here?"
"Are you a friend of Brock's?" The nurse asked.
"We're old friends." Ash nodded.
"Well, if you go through those doors," she said pointing to a pair of double doors that lead into the rest of the center. "And ask one of the other nurses, they'll show you where he is. I don't suppose you're Ash Ketchum?"
"Yeah, I am."
"Brock talks about your adventures together, he has such interesting stories. And this must be *the* Pikachu!" She exclaimed.
Pikachu hid his face behind his tail in embarrassment. (I'm pretty okay...)
Ash chuckled at his friend. "Yep, that him!"
"He's so cute!"
"Thanks Nurse Joy." Ash waved, walking through the doors. He walked into a sea of white and pink. Sometimes, Ash wondered if Nurse Joy was just a species of very intelligent pokemon along with Officer Jenny. But since that made Brock's past habits even more disturbing, he avoided that train of thought. Walking up to one of the Nurse Joy, who was reviewing a chart, he asked, "Excuse me, do you know where Brock Slater is?"
"Mm? Brock, he should be down that hall, second door on the right."
"Thanks."
Following the directions, Ash walked into the room, finding his best, male, human friend, examining a delibird. Ash smiled at his friend for following his dream like him. He definitely looked the part of a doctor, dressed in dark blue scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck. He waited until Brock was done and tapped him on the shoulder. Brock turned and smiled. "Ash, Pikachu, good to see ya!"
"Hey, Brock, how are ya?"
"I've been good. Mind if we walk and talk, I've got one more stop to make before my break begins. They down walked the halls, Brock greeting the various Joys as they passed. "Felicity, have you done something with you hair?"
"Yes, thanks for noticing, Brock!"
"Motoko, Mokoto, I still can't decide who's lovelier!"
"Oh, you!" Two Nurses giggled in unison.
"Gloria, you're looking as increasingly beautiful as ever!"
"Careful Brock, you're so sweet I might gobble you up and ruin my diet."
"Not without dinner and a movie first!"
Brock replied.
"I might just take you up on that..." The Nurse Joy winked.
Ash and Pikachu shared a look, looking just as stunned as the other. Did they fall through an inter-dimensional worm-hole on the way? Was Team Rocket a charitable organisation here? Did pokemon capture humans?
As they stepped into a room with an injured zangoose, Ash was ready to pepper Brock with questions. "What was that?"
Brock's smile grew. "I have finally unlock the secrets of the female heart, my old friend. For years, I have unknowingly been using flawed techniques to gain the affection of the fairer sex, but now, after many years, I've done it!"
"What is it?" Ash asked, curious about how Brock was able to *succesfully* flirt with multiple women.
"Oh, as if I need to tell the master!" Brock snorted. "But if you must know, I discovered that throwing yourself at a woman like a nidoking in mating season *doesn't* work! After realising that, everything else fell into place." Brock nodded, crossing his arms in a way similar to Professor Oak, nodding as if he has imparted some great wisdom.
Brock continued checking the zangoose, making a few changes to it's chart. He slid his hand down his face. "Mind if we head to a cafe down the street? I've been working most of the night and I could really use some coffee right now."
"Yeah, no problem." Ash replied. They left the pokemon center and walked to a small cafe and took a seat at one of the tables. "What a difference a couple of years make, huh?" Brock said, swallowing his third cup of coffee. "Me, on my way to becoming a pokemon doctor and you on your way to becoming a Champion. With a Champion as a girlfriend no less."
"What shocks you more, the fact that she's a Champion or that she's my girlfriend?"
"I'll admit, there were times I worried about you." Brock bluntly replied, making Ash snort into his glass of Moo-Moo Milk, he wasn't one for coffee.
"So Joy isn't actually their first name?"
"You didn't actually think that every Nurse Joy shared the same first name or that everyone referred to them by their first name, did you? That's like calling Professor Oak Professor Samuel."
"I just sort of assumed... Nevermind. So, that was pretty impressive. Is there finally someone in Brock Slater's life?"
"You could say that. Remember Lucy?"
"Pike Queen Lucy? Tall, purple-hair, way out of you league?"
"Tall with purple hair, yes." Brock nodded with a smile.
"Wow, how'd that happen?"
"Well, after the party where you so viciously crushed my heart by revealing that you're in a relationship with one of the world's most beautiful women, and before me, might I add, we met up, pretty much by accident, and, I don't know, it just clicked. We talked for a while, we decided to go get something to eat and it just went forward from there."
"That's good, can't be easy though." Ash replied.
"No, what with me moving around the regions to learn how to treat different pokemon and situations, it's kind of hard to make plans, I guess. But we still talk everyday, and I'm headed back to Kanto soon to work in Saffron City."
"I'm happy for you, so how are the Brocklings?" Ash asked, referring to Brock's younger siblings.
"I miss them, we never get to talk as much. Forrest is the official Gym Leader now, Salvadore wants to become a Pokemon League referee, I feel as if they're not my little brothers and sisters anymore, even Billy and Tilly have been on their journey for two years now. It makes me feel old to be honest."
"But isn't that a good thing? You practically raised those kids. I thought it would feel good to see them make their way in the world."
"Don't get me wrong it feels great, it's just that last week, Suzie was telling me about this boy she met... She's getting interested in boys, but to me she'll always be that little girl who used to tear her dresses climbing trees... I mean what if this guy is like me?"
"Trust me Brock, no-one is this world is anything like you." Ash deadpanned.
Brock let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So how are things with you?"
"Everything's going great, Pikachu and I are working on a new move, we haven't come up with a name yet, but Cyn..."
"No, I don't mean how are things with you, I mean how are things with you and Cynthia." Brock said, wiggling his eyebrows. "We didn't get a chance to talk much, you have to tell me everything!"
"Like what?"
"Oh, come on, Ash, I read the paper, surely you can let your old pal Brock know a few things."
"Okay, that paper was wrong, they printed a retraction of the article."
"Well tell me the truth then!"
"I don't see you telling me every detail about your love life."
"Do you want to know?"
"No, no, I do not."
"Come on, if you can't discuss your sex life with an extremely attractive woman with your best friend then who can you?"
"No-one, preferably. But... I guess if you really want to know..." Oh, come on, don't judge him. If you were in Ash's shoes you'd want to brag. But Ash wasn't the type the brag, though he couldn't deny that he sometimes got the urge to run around high-fiving everyone he met. "It's kind of embarrassing though..."
"Ash, you watched me nearly marry a two-hundred-year-old ninetales, I think I'm entitled to a few embarrassing stories of yours." Ash smiled, thinking back to when he, Brock and Misty got lost in the fog and found a mansion, abandoned except for a woman and a ninetales. Within an hour of meeting her, Brock had, unsurprisingly, proposed marriage. What did surprise Ash and Misty though, was that the woman agreed. It turned out that the woman had been an illusion created by the ninetales, to trick Brock, who looked like her original owner, into staying with her. But hey, nobody's perfect.
"It's about this thing Cynthia does when we...you know..." Ash gestured.
"I get you. A thing she does or a *thing* she does?" Brock enquired.
"What the difference?" Ash asked.
"A thing is usually something a woman does with her tongue, a *thing* is usually something with a whip, chains and a ball gag."
"What? No! Nothing like that."
"So, what then?" Brock asked curiously.
"Cynthia...bites."
"Oh. That's not so bad, some girls like to nibble a little, nothing to get worked up about." Brock waved him off.
"Maybe it'll be better to show you." Ash pulled his jacket and tee-shirt to the side to reveal his collarbone and shoulder. Brock gasped when he saw the varying shades of pink, purple and red.
"Holy crap! Were you attacked by a hoard of crobat?"
"No, Brock."
"Are you gonna turn into a mightyena on the full moon?"
"No, like I said, Cynthia likes to bite." Ash repeated, moving the tee-shirt and jacket to cover his shoulder again.
"There's a difference between biting and slowly devouring the right side of your body. I knew she was too gorgeous to not have something wrong with her..." Brock muttered to himself.
"I'm just wondering why she does it, and you've always been good with girls, do you know why?" Ash slumped in his seat.
Brock took a minute to think about it. Cynthia probably wasn't a zombie, so that left one possible theory, though it was sort of strange. "Ash," Brock began. "Does Cynthia ever seem to get... jealous?"
"Jealous? Cynthia? No, never. Or, that's what she says anyway." Ash raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"She tells you that she doesn't get jealous?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, let me explain it in terms you might understand. Do you know what a luxray will do if it finds a berry bush?"
Ash blinked at the sudden change of conversation. "No, why? What does it do?"
"It urinates on the bush, marking it with it's scent, to keep other pokemon away."
"And what does this have to do with me and Cynthia?"
"I want you to image Cynthia as a luxray, a proud, majestic luxray, strong, noble, fierce." Brock paused allowing Ash to picture it in his mind's eye. "Now, I want you to image yourself as a particularly tasty berry bush."
"You can't be serious?" Ash laughed. It was ridiculous, the thought of Cynthia, naked and on all fours, her blonde hair dyed black and shaped into a wild mane, her pale body and face covered in black and blue fur, her slender form moving with feline grace, her cute little tail swaying just above her rear...absolutely ridiculous. Ash silently cursed himself for peering at the books inside Flint's Forbidden Zone.
"Hang on, just go with me on this. Since peeing on your significant other is usually frowned on, Cynthia goes for the next best thing. Biting you enough to leaves marks establishes dominance over you and wards off any other female that might try to make a move. Tell me, does Cynthia enjoy being on top?" Ash nodded his head reluctantly. "I thought so. Leaving marks and preferring the dominant position during sex are signs of a possessive nature.
I guess Cynthia does get jealous, Ash. She's just more subtle about it. If you can call what she did to you subtle."
"Hmm, so this is just Cynthia's way of saying my berries belong to her..." Ash said, while Brock somehow managed to keep a straight face at the unintentional double entendre. "But why does she feel the need to mark me like this?"
"I don't know, maybe she thought that it was either love bites or a leash and collar." Brock shrugged. "Let's see how effective it is. See that waitress over there, the one with her top two buttons undone?" Brock nodded towards the brunette that brought them their order.
"What about her?"
"Call her over." Ash signalled to the waitress, who walked over with a warm smile. "Is there anything I can do for you sir?" She asked, leaning forward just far enough to show off a hint of cleavage.
"Could we get the bill please, miss?" Brock asked. The waitress glanced in Brock's direction for a brief second before returning to Ash. "Yeah, sure." She quickly wrote up the total price for the drinks and set it on the table. Ash dug around in his pocket for money, while Brock continued speaking. "So Ash, is there something wrong with your shoulder? It looks a little sore."
Ash looked at Brock, who gave him the universal hand-signal for "play along." He gingerly squeezed his shoulder. "Oh, yeah, it does hurt a little."
"What happened?"
"Just something that happened last night..."
"And it still hurts? Do you want me to take a look? It could be something
serious."
"Well, you are a doctor, after all." Ash pulled his shirt to the side.
The waitress made a small sound and snatched back up the bill. "Oh, I'm sorry, I made a mistake, let me just fix that!" She laughed nervously, furiously scribbling something out. She picked up the money Ash put on the table and sped off. Brock showed the bill to Ash, who noticed that the scribbles covered up what seemed to be a phone number.
"See?" Brock crowed triumphantly. "Instant single woman repellent!"
South of the Sinnoh Region, inside the Kanto Region Pokemon League Headquarters, in a spacious room, sat five figures in large leather chairs, at a large oak table. At the head of the table sat the Kanto Champion Lance Blackthorn, the head of the Blackthorn family, a tall red-haired man in his late thirties, dressed in a well-tailored suit with a cape around his shoulders. To his left sat the Hoenn Champion Steven Stone, heir to the Devon Corporation, eccentric billionaire by profession, expert geologist by hobby, a well dressed man in his mid-to-late twenties.
Down from Steven sat the Johto Champion Ethan Gold, a young man, dressed rather casually compared to the previously mentioned men in a pair of shorts, a gray tee-shirt and red and black rain jacket. On Lance's right sat the only female of the group, the statuesque beauty, Cynthia Shirona, the Sinnoh Champion, approximately twenty-two, the youngest of the group, dressed in her usual outfit consisting of black jeans, black shirt and her trademark coat.
Next to her sat Alder, the wandering Champion of Unova, a man with wild red hair, his energetic personality made it difficult to determine his age, anywhere between forty-five and sixty. Dressed in a poncho, with a necklace of his pokemon's pokeballs around his neck, he was arguably the world's most powerful hobo. The reason why this meeting of some of the word's most powerful trainers was called was because this was the annual meeting of the Champions of the Five Regions, where they discussed matters such upcoming Conferences, the creation and enforcement of laws that they deemed fit to create and other matters that only the Champions could deal with, a serious event indeed.
"And with that, let's end the discussion and move onto the voting." Lance, the longest reigning Champion spoke. "Those for the integration of the Kalos Region Pokemon League with the Five Region Pokemon League, raise your hand." Alder, Cynthia, Ethan, Lance and Steven raised their hands.
"I've never been to the Kalos Region, this gives me an excuse!" Alder grinned.
"I'm with the old man, I hear that there's tons of pokemon we've never even heard of over there and Professor Elm would love to get his hands on them for the Inter-Region Pokemon Placement Programme." Ethan replied.
"I agree, there's no downside and plenty to gain." Steven said, while Cynthia nodded her consent.
"Then it's unanimous. We just need somebody to head over to Kalos for a few weeks to look over and finalise everything."
"I'll do it." Ethan told him. "Homika's touring Kalos right now, so I'll be able to sort out everything with the Kalos League and get her to stop nagging about how we don't spend enough
time together."
"Heh, even I wouldn't go near that much crazy!" Alder laughed.
"Screw you old man! 'Mika's not crazy...in a clinical sense." he muttered.
"So it's settled, Ethan and the Kalos Champion Diantha will work together and hopefully by this time next year we'll have another Champion sitting with us." Lance interrupted.
"Diantha, huh? It'll be nice to have another beauty around, right Cynthia?" Alder laughed, raising an arm to wrap around her shoulders.
"Bad Alder! No touching!" Alder's hand recoiled after being hit and withdrew.
Alder crossed his arms and slouched in his seat. "Damn you to hell, Steven Stone, you never let me have any fun!"
"Moving on. Steven, report." Lance ordered.
The gray-haired man looked to their unofficial leader. "Nothing to report. Hoenn has been quiet since the disbandment of Team Magma and Aqua and the capture of several of the high-ups a few years ago. As you know, we got information from a couple of ex-members for reduced sentences and sent the information on to the police. There has been a small increase in poaching, but nothing we couldn't leave to the police or the Gym Leader of the area."
"Good. Alder?"
Alder changed his demeanour from lovable elderly hooligan to one more befitting the now serious nature of the discussion. "There's been talk of a possibly violent pro-pokemon liberation group branching into pokemon kidnapping, they're currently being investigated by Grimsly and Brycen and will be dealt with accordingly."
"Any idea why they're stealing pokemon?" Cynthia asked.
"No, it's possible that they genuinely believe that they're helping pokemon, but I've been around too long to believe that, if that is or isn't the case, something will still need to been done."
"Keep me updated if it's true. Ethan?"
"Nothing. Ever since we ran Team Rocket out of Johto no other group has tried setting up shop, some poachers, nothing more serious than that."
"Well keep an eye out all the same, a cancer like Team Rocket will always show up where and when you least expect it. Cynthia, anything to report?"
The blonde turned to the dragon master. "After the fall of Team Galactic, there was a small resurgence led by one of Cyrus' lieutenants, Saturn, aided by one of Team Galactic's head scientists, Charon. Myself and the Elite Four were able to stop them before they were able to get their operation off the ground. I believe that's the last of them we'll ever see, but I have been seeing an disturbing rise in Team Rocket's "research labs." My apprentice and I have dealt with all the ones we've found."
Every person at the table winced slightly. It even made Lance, the person with the most experience fighting Team Rocket, sick to his stomach at the atrocities he came across in their so-called research labs. One of the things that made Team Rocket so dangerous their lack of an overall agenda. They had no complicated top-secret plan, no eco-terrorism, no plot to bend time and space, their plan was simple, get as much money and power under the control of Team Rocket by any means necessary.
From smuggling and bank robberies to extortion and kidnapping, they was nothing they weren't willing to do. These research labs were another way of making money by harvesting the organs or valuable parts of pokemon.
"How many have you found?" Steven asked.
"This year alone, three, last year, we found two." Cynthia replied.
"Damn. So how did Ketchum handle it?"
"I only brought him on two raids. I left the other three to the Four. Physically, he came out unharmed, emotionally... He'll be just fine, he's strong." She smiled softly, allowing a little emotion to slip into her professional tone.
"Well, he's bound to be, there's no comfort like a soft bed and a warm woman!" Alder grinned widely. Cynthia's hidden eye twitched.
"Isn't that a warm bed and a soft woman?" Ethan wondered.
"Could be, I find it's best to have two women just in case!"
"Everyone quiet! As the senior Champion, it is my right to make fun of Cynthia and her shota boyfriend first." Lance commanded. "Seriously though, how does it work, does he need a stool or something to kiss you? It must look like an eevee trying to do it with a lopunny." Cynthia's hand twitched towards her pokeballs.
An hour later, the Champions left the meeting room. Alder went for a "stroll" so nobody would see him for a few weeks at least. Ethan headed down to a little bar he knew in Veridian City, no doubt to hustle unsuspecting fools at pool and leer at any half-way attractive woman. Lance and Steven were going to make preparations for the annual Five Region Leagues Meeting in a few months time, where all the Gym Leaders, Elite Four members and Champions got together. It was pretty much an excuse for everyone to catch up with friends and get drunk.
Cynthia wasn't one to drink, not anymore at least. The vague recollection of what happened that night in Ash's room still haunted her. "I'm in love with Ash..'s hat." What idiot says that! Then there was the hangover. Waking up at 4:00pm with a splitting headache was not how she wanted to spend her birthday. Although having Ash there when she woke up did make it a lot better.
Still annoyed, Cynthia walked outside, pulling Garchomp's pokeball from her belt.
"Immature idiots." She grumbled. It was to be expected really. She expected a little flak from her friends for dating a younger man, even if it was only a few years, but it was annoying that even her colleagues, the few people she considered her equals, did it too. The "stool or ladder to kiss" thing wasn't new, but she gave Lance points for originality with the lopunny/eevee joke.
A tiny part of her wished Ash would grow a bit, but a larger part actually like that she was taller than him, the same part that enjoyed riding him like a cowgirl and biting him. Was that weird? She knew most women like their boyfriends to be taller that them, but she had always been tall, she stood at 6'0, 6'2 with her heels. Ash was...not as tall. But he never felt emasculated or anything because of something as silly as height.
She couldn't explain in words why she enjoyed being on top. The first time, it had been to control the penetration of Ash's penis. She knew her first time would suck and she had been told that being on top helped with that, allowing the girl to either lower herself slowly or do it in one fell swoop. But it still hurt like fuck! Her grandma's romance novels were full of crap, while it was extremely romantic and Ash had been so gentle with her, but goddamn!
She heard about it, but seeing all that blood... She freaked out as badly as Ash, but kept herself calm. The act itself was rather unsatisfying, Ash had gotten her off with his mouth and fingers twice before the actual penetration, but it hurt to much to feel anything else, it wasn't until the second time that she actually orgasmed from sex and from there it had been nothing but pleasure.
It was incredibly erotic watching Ash's face as she rode him, his hands glued to her waist and his eyes transfixed on hers. Since then, she couldn't get enough of being on top, it made her feel...in control and she liked that feeling very much. But maybe she could let Ash be in control sometime, she wondered what he would do. Probably just grope her ass, the little pervert. Cynthia had always been a little self-conscious about her butt. It was one of the reasons for her coat, besides the fact that a warm, heavy coat was a necessity in Sinnoh. All her friends had these cute little rumps and all she had was a big bubble butt. Elesa always waved her ass in her face. In a figurative sense.
But Ash really liked it, and she wondered what would happen if she offered to let him... Nope! Nope! Bad thoughts, bad, dirty, filthy, naughty, sexy thoughts!
And then there was the biting. As she said before, giving Ash her virginity hurt like hell, and Ash let her bite down on her shoulder, she hadn't noticed until later that she could taste blood in her mouth. But Ash didn't say anything, it was like he was trying to share her pain or something.
And after that, well, she liked it, she liked knowing that no matter where he went, he would always have a reminder of her, she liked the noises he made as she licked and sucked his neck. She liked knowing that she was the only person to ever be so intimate with him, to see him so happy and free and vice versa. She liked that he was the only person to see past her title and her power and see...just Cynthia. She liked being just Cynthia with him.
And if those little love bites happened to let someone know that Ash was in a loving and extremely fulfilling relationship, well that's just a happy coincidence.
It was funny really. She never saw herself as the jealous type, not until a couple of her friends mentioned what a nice guy Ash was, how cute he was, and if he had a girlfriend? But all that was settled now. Ash was hers, only hers and she was his.
Clair was way too old for him anyway.
Releasing Garchomp, she climbed onto her back. "C'mon, back to the tower."
A few hours after Cynthia arrived back at Shouri Island, Ash and Pikachu flew back in on Pidgeot. Bidding both of them goodbye, he entered the tower and took the elevator to the fourth floor, Cynthia's personal gym, (the kind for humans) the gym covered the entire floor, the equipment state of the art. He found her pounding on a punching bag and watched her, looking like some warrior queen. She hated being compared to princesses, worthless, always waiting to be rescued, queens got things done, she told him.
He watched her attack with ferocity of a rampaging tauros, her hair moving with her like a golden cape, her skin glistening under the fluorescent lights due to the thin sheen of sweat covering her skin, her animal-like roar as she threw a vicious left hook which snapped the chain that the punching bag was hanging from. She was like a forest fire, beautiful, deadly and you just can't look away. "Dammit!" She swore. "Not another one!"
"That must be the second one this month, huh?"
Cynthia spun around, her angry snarl quickly morphing into a smile. "You're back! Did you have a good day?"
"Yeah, I had fun. But did something happen today to upset you?" Let it be known that Ash Ketchum was no longer the clueless young man he once was, oblivious to the feelings of those around him. It may still take him a couple of seconds to catch on to Cynthia's mood, but she was practically telegraphing her annoyance.
"It's nothing, just annoying idiots, you know how it is." She told him, waving off his concern.
"Sorry." Ash told her, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, feeling guilty that she had to put up with all this crap because of him. It was why he wanted to keep their relationship a secret, apart from family and friends. If word got out, it would probably affect Cynthia's reputation and it would keep him from being anything but "Cynthia Shirona's boyfriend."
Placing her palm against his cheek, Cynthia leaned down a bit to kiss him. "Don't be. There's nothing in the world that will ever make me regret this, regret you." Cynthia decided the time for sappyness and took a step back, slipping into a stance that Ash was all too familiar with, since it meant great pain for him. "Take that jacket off, you're going to help me work off my anger at those fools."
He took a stance that Cynthia taught him, flexing his fingers in a "come at me" motion. "Let's go, princess!" She responded to his cocky reply with a palm to his nose, snapping his head back, she drove her foot into the side of his knee, causing him to kneel and finished it off with a heel to his solar plexus, driving the air from his lungs. He curled up on the floor, clutching his face while desperately trying to take in air.
I did mention that Cynthia hated being called princess, didn't I?
After an hour of having his ass kicked, Cynthia decided to be merciful and helped him up off the floor. She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose cutely, in Ash's opinion. "You smell." She bluntly remarked. "Come on, we need to shower off." She took Ash by the hand and lead him into the shower room. Cynthia stripped herself of her sports bra and shorts and watched Ash divest himself of his own clothes, appreciatively ogling the muscle that certainly hadn't been there when they met.
He had changed a lot from the boy she met in Amity Square, he had grown, mentally and emotionally as well as physically. He became calmer, yet retained that aura of energy that seemed to surround him. He became more mature, but kept his boyish, open personality. He was a man in her eyes. Her gaze dropped, trailing down his chest and onto his waist and Cynthia bit her lip. A man in every sense. As he turned around to place their clothes somewhere where they wouldn't get wet. A memory crossed her mind and she let out a small laugh, Aaron didn't know what the hell he was talking about.
They stepped into the shower, the warm water cascading onto them, washing away the sweat on their bodies. Cynthia turned her back to Ash, allowing him to run his shampoo-filled hands through it. Sure, it would be faster to do it herself, but she loved it when Ash washed her hair for her, even if he took ages to do it.
She sighed softly when Ash moved his hands from her hair to her shoulders, massaging gently and working away the stress from her muscles. It was like a dream, a dream she had more often than her pride would allow her to admit, seeing as most of her dreams had revolved around a teenaged boy.
But this reality was better than any dream her slightly sexually repressed mind could come up with, she thought as she rested her head on his shoulders, humming one of her favourite death-metal/electro-funk fusion songs. Except for maybe that one where Ash- "Agh!"
"Ash! What is it? What's wrong?" She asked frantically.
"It's nothing! My shoulder just hurts a little is all." He told her, trying and failing to play it off.
"Let me see." Cynthia gently removed Ash's hand from his shoulder and stared at it in an odd mix of guilt and pride. Guilt, however, won out.
"Does...does it hurt?" She asked hesitantly. Stupid question, it obviously it hurt and it was her fault.
"Nah, only when I touch it." He told her with a reassuring smile.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "Sometimes I just get so caught up when we're together, I don't even..."
Ash pulled her into a hug, crushing her bosom into his chest. "I said it's okay, really, I don't even mind."
"You don't?" She looked at him with doubtful eyes.
"Yeah, it feels kind of painful and a little weird, but not a bad weird."
"That's good, because I don't plan on stopping!"
"What I want to know is why do you do it?"
"Why?"
"Yeah, see, Brock thinks that..."
"Brock? You told Brock about it!" The thought that Brock might know about her sexual habits made her feel dirty, the kind of dirty a shower didn't wash away, more like a bath of chemical disinfectant.
"Um, sort of? Anyway, you talk about me all the time!"
Cynthia huffed. "That's different."
"How?"
"When men talk about women, they're given away priceless memories and experiences that they don't want to share with anyone but the man they care about. When women talk about men, they just brag about why their boyfriend is great and why other women's boyfriends don't compare."
"I don't understand."
"You're a man, of course you don't."
"Whatever! Anyway, Brock thinks the reason is that you might, maybe, maybe not, be a little bit on the possessive side?"
Cynthia didn't say a word, but Ash felt her fingernails dig a little bit deeper into his back. "I hate it, you know." She stated after a few minutes. "I hate that when I see you talk to some other woman, the first thought that goes through my head is "Get the fuck away from him!" It's stupid and petty, because I know you would never hurt me, but I feel this big ball of anger in my chest and I just want to break something!" She hissed.
Ash stayed silent, he just kissed her neck in an effort to calm her down an remind her that he was there with her. "Did I ever tell you about this old umbreon doll I have?" Cynthia asked with an odd lilt on her voice.
"No. Tell me."
"My parents got it for me for my fifth birthday, I loved it, I carried it everywhere with me. Blacky, that was it's name, original, I know." She said with a depreciating laugh. I slept with it and I never let anyone else touch it. It was selfish of me, because I had something to remind me of my parents, even if it was just a pokemon plushy and Emily had nothing. I caught her playing with it outside once and I shouted at her for hours and I didn't talk to her for days afterwards. I was such a stupid little girl."
"Want to hear something really pathetic?" She continued.
"What?"
"I even took Blacky with me on my journey, I slept with it almost every night, I slept with it until I was eighteen! Then I put it in my house to keep it safe."
"So that thing in your room...?"
"Blacky isn't a thing! She's the most awesome umbreon there is! But, honestly after what she's been through, if she was a real umbreon, I'd have to put her down out of mercy. Look, what I'm trying to say is...I'm not good at sharing my toys and I have no intention of sharing you."
"For a second I sort of thought that you didn't trust me."
Cynthia's head shot up from his shoulder, her eyes wide with fright. "No! That's not right! I trust you more than anyone! You're the only person that I've ever let see me cry, you're the only person that I've told about what happened when I was six, you're..." Cynthia pulled back and took Ash's hand in hers, she kissed his knuckles and placed his hand over her left breast. "You're the only man I've ever trusted with this." She said, looking him dead in the eye. Ash just stared ahead, his mouth slightly open in shock. It wasn't exactly "I love you" he thought to himself, maybe it was better.
He was brought back to reality by melodic Cynthia's laugh. "Careful Ash, a zubat might fly in there." Her expression became pensive. "I can't promise that I'll stop getting jealous, but I'll try at least, as long as nobody gives me a reason to kick their ass."
"Cynthia, right now I'm sharing a shower with a beautiful woman, the only woman that I've ever cared about this deeply in my life. You're the only woman in the world I want to be with."
"I know." She sighed happily, resting her head back on his shoulder.
"So don't over-react when I say that a waitress-gave-me-her-phone-number-today!" He said in a rush.
"Fucking tramp! Who is she?" Ash held Cynthia's wet, wildly thrashing body against his, smiling widely. He loved Cynthia deeply and dearly and he would never do anything against her, but damn, she was cute when she was jealous.