[ Birth Island - Starlight Town ]

" Pika ! "

" No, Pikachu I don't think Cynthia would like whatever that is as an apology gift," Austin muttered, as he found himself standing in the shopping district of Birth Island, as he checked his Pokedex to check his monetary finances. If what he had accounted for was correct, it should have dwindled out more than a bit, but then he supposed it was well-deserved. Then again, he had something around twenty-three thousand pokedollars under his name, a grand amount to be frank.

After his lousy excuse to Cynthia, he headed to his tent to make plans. Considering the mess he had made with his friend (his delayed realization hadn't helped matters either), it was now up to him to mend matters before things took a turn for the worse. In his excitement, he had completely ignored the needs and wishes of his friend, something that didn't sit right with him.

He had made the mess, and he would be the one to fix it.

After a somewhat early dinner, he had Clefairy teleport him to Island. Specifically, to the shopping district. He had gone ahead and gotten himself one of the storage caskets that held more space than they had any right to—an application of the Pokeball technology in the commercial world. The concept was the same as that of the trainer bag packs, only that these held some special refrigeration systems pre-installed, to keep food and medicines from getting spoiled. Sometimes the pokemon world baffled Austin since they could create things like this but there was no concept of the internet or anything in a similar vein. Either way, while it charged a hefty amount, it was nicely spent. Besides, he could use the contraption from now on to store more food, restore packs, and concoction ingredients—the last week with Cynthia had taught him a lot about creating medical potions.

It was past eight in the evening and already most people were returning to their homes, though most of the shops were still open. He had done with the first part of his secret shopping spree and as for the second part…. He would need to go to the other side of the district.

" Pika !"

" No, I am not getting you that jumbo-size Ketchup bottle."

" Pika ."

Pikachu's ears dropped down showing that Austin's words made him sad.

Falling on one knee, Pikachu outstretched his paw as he looked at the jumbo size Ketchup bottle like he had lost his love.

Austin rolled his eyes. "Stop procrastinating, and help me get all this stuff. We still need to visit the Pokemart, you know."

" Pika !" Pikachu jumped as he picked up a few items to help his trainer.

"Now the next thing we need is…"

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As the shopping concluded, Austin walked alongside Pikachu who was happily carrying a jumbo-sized Ketchup bottle.

Austin suddenly stopped as his eyes caught a poster outside a giant electronics store.

The poster advertised a new service that Austin was extremely familiar with.

The Internet or as the poster says the Pocket.

" Pika ?"

Pikachu looked confused as to why his trainer had suddenly stopped.

" Let's go, Pikachu," Austin said as he went into the shop.

Wait, if this is the start of the internet then am I a millennial in this world?

Austin thought as he went into the shop which looked like a normal electronics store except that Magnemites were floating all around the place.

" Welcome to the Poke-electronics store, what can I do for you ?" A young middle age man greeted Austin with a smile.

" I say the poster about the internet, I mean Pokenet services outside. I wanted to ask if I could get the service."

" Ahh! yes, the Pokenet is just a recent invention of the Devon Corporation. You can connect with others all around the world...."

Before the shopkeeper could continue Austin stopped him as he didn't come here to listen to an AD.

" Could you show me ?"

" Of course." The Shop keeper said as he took a box from the shelves and placed it down in front of Austin who was surprised to see the device looking like a carbon copy of a Nintendo Switch except it had more buttons and no joysticks.

" This is H.A.N.D. a device that allows you to access the Pokenet where people from all over the world are connected...

Austin blocked out the Shop keeper's words as he thought.

' Finally, I can gain access to the everyday knowledge of this world. If only I had this device from day 1.'

" So is it secure ?"

" Of course it is, it was made by the Devon Corporation."

" No, I meant is it secure from something like a Porygon."

" What's a Porygon ?"

The Shop keeper asked in confusion causing Austin to slowly nod.

" No, nothing. I was just joking around."

" Sure." The Shop Keeper slowly said.

" So how much for it ?" Austin asked with a smile while deep down his mind was running a hundred miles per hour.

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[ The next morning ]

Cynthia got up from the bed, the alerts on her Pokenav more than enough to shed off every inch of sleepiness. Wondering what the matter was, she quickly checked up on the device. There were several messages from the Sinnoh league, especially from the Elite Four—something that she had begun associating with bad news.

Wonder what they need from me now…

The Elite had been very specific in their words. She was to be the one joining the SS. Anne along with the other Sinnoh trainers boarded the ship. The official reason was that it would allow her the opportunity to travel and make connections with the Elite of the other regions- what they had never really expected was the attack on SS. Anne and the aftermath after it. For the next couple of days, Cynthia had run herself ragged running from one place to another, making sure that she had accounted for everything- the survivors of the event, and the dead. Doing so gained her a lot of notice from the other Champions—especially Steven and the Elite Four of Kanto and Hoenn, something that had gone a long way in cementing her stature as a newly crowned Champion.

And now the Sinnoh Elite were getting more restless and wanted the challenges to begin immediately.

Yes, Cynthia. She told herself sardonically. Welcome to the life of a Champion.

After defeating the previous Champion in a six-on-six battle, Cynthia had been given the traditional vacation before the Champion duty began. A vacation whose first part had been spent on the ship, and taking care of the aftermath, and the second part… she had spent time training her friend. And now the Elite wanted her back to get started on the grill.

As soon as she would return to Sinnoh, she would have to answer challenges from the Elite Four as well as the Ace teams—whoever wished to formally challenge her that is- and defend her position. The maximum number of such challenges could not extend beyond fifteen and would have to be conducted within thirty days. Should she be able to maintain her position, the Elite and the Ace squad would then accept her superiority and follow her commands for one year. After cementing her position, she would be liable to accept two challenges per month for the rest of her term. It was tradition, and nothing personal.

Bollocks! Cynthia cursed inwardly. Nothing personal my ass. They just don't want to accept that a little girl has stolen their grandeur.

She sighed.

The last week had been nothing like she had expected it to go. After that sudden bout of misunderstanding between her and Ash, she had resigned to simply training him to the best of her ability. After all, she owed that much to him, if not out of friendship, then out of the debt of saving her life all those times. And debts must always be paid in full.

And yet…

"What are you doing, Cynthia? Why? What are you trying to prove and why does it matter?" She asked herself aloud.

The silent tent did nothing to answer her concerns.

Sighing, she got up from her sleeping bag, getting ready for another day of training—oh, no wait- Ash had wanted to go to the city today. Maybe she could get herself an ice cream. It always worked wonders for-

Wait.

She sniffed.

What is that smell?

She sniffed again before the familiar (and horrifying) dark shade of smoke slowly diffused into her tent.

"…ire?" She half-mumbled, and without bothering to change her pajamas, she searched for Milotic's Pokeball, rushing out of the tent. The situation outside was something she had never expected to be.

It was a mess. There were several caskets littered all over the place, and on top of everything, Austin was trying to prepare something. The keyword to be noted here was trying since all he had managed to do was lose control and create a big mess, literally burning the bacon that he was trying to cook.

"…. What the hell do you think you are doing?" Cynthia screamed.

Austin turned towards her, looking like a deer in the headlights. He glanced back at the flames that had gotten out of control, at the bacon that he had managed to burn, and at the horrible mess and smoke. He glanced at Charmeleon and Pikachu whom he had delegated the task of making sure the flames stayed at an appropriate level, but the draconic Pokémon had… made a mess out of it. Squirtle's water gun (despite his honorable intentions) had only spoiled matters and drenched him completely from head to toe. Thus, there he was, completely drenched, standing with a large piece of burnt, wet bacon in one hand.

He turned back towards her again.

"…"

"Well?" Cynthia demanded her hands on her hips.

"… let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."