Chapter 2: The intruders
Disclaimer. this story is an adult work of fiction. So if you're not your younger than 18 or 21 or of legal age in your region don't read it. If you aren't why aren't adult works blocked on your user page
The COA are not meant to represent any RL religion. I am not responsible for any offense anyone takes at their behaviour
Major thanks go out to Catsithx for Betaing this story, finding mistakes and helping out in general
Thanks go out to Torben for allowing me to bounce ideas off him which I found improved the quality and means you don't get a clichéd walk in on fapping scene.
Pokémon and all recognised characters, places and creatures belong to Nintendo, the author is in no part associated with the creators or sponsors. No copyright infringement is intended.
Any reference to pop culture or other works of fiction is done in jest and of course the original works and such are property of their creators. the author is in no part associated with the creators or sponsors. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story is mine. It will contain straight sex involving a dominant female human and a subby male Garchomp if you don't like it don't read it. Yes I know in the game Cynthia's Garchomp is female, sod it this is a work of adult fan fiction, it doesn't have to fit cannon let alone make sense.
To the readers remember "Run before you walk fly before you crawl keep going or die trying" and "keep running as you never know what's chasing you"
****
Gar must have sensed the urgency in her words earlier, as he made the trip back to the league In fifty eight minutes. A new record. Once again proving why his species were known as Mach Pokémon.
The courtyard above the waterfall was devoid of life. However it was fairly obvious that there had been life here, lots of it. Dozens of sets of footprints both human and Pokémon littered the muddy ground. There were other signs that people had been in the courtyard. Empty potion bottles had been dumped without regard for tidiness. The most telling sign was the blast and scorch marks that covered the area, one had even hit the giant pokéball painted over the entrance to the league charring the red and white black. Another attack had hit one of the towers blasting a hole in it and scattering red tiles everywhere. Cynthia and Gar exchanged worried glances.
The great iron gates to the league, normally raised out of sight were now lying in a heap of twisted metal. Unimpeded Cynthia and Gar walked into the league itself looking for signs of life.
The entrance hall was just as bad, if not worse than the courtyard, mud had been tracked in and covered the hall floor. Everywhere there were the marks of Pokémon attacks, leaves on the floor, scorch marks on the walls and rocks embedded in the ceiling. Worst of all was the copious amounts of blood. Splatters of the stuff were everywhere and not just the dark red of humans, the room was a virtual palette with the amount of shades of Pokémon blood.
"Halt" Something cold and metallic was pressed to the side of Cynthia's head. "who goes there."
The feeling of a gun pressed to one head does remarkable things to focus the mind. Cynthia's eyes tracked around the room looking for a solution to her predicament. There was nothing and Gar wouldn't do anything as long as the gun was pointed at her head. She had no choice but to answer the man's question and tell the truth. "It's Cynthia the champion, returning as asked"
There was a pause and then the sound of a safety catch being engaged. Cynthia released the breath she'd been holding with a loud sigh and turned to face her assailant.
He was about twenty, tall and pale with blond hair. His cap and jacket proclaimed him to be league security. "Great" he said the exhaustion clear in his voice."I'll inform the others you're here, they'll be delighted."
Before he could dash off Cynthia grabbed him, one hand on each should to make doubly sure. "I have one very simple question" she said her anger just as clear in her voice as it was in her stare. "Who the hell trashed my league?"
The guard gabbled, apparently all his courage was with his weapon, safely tucked away in a belt holster. "I'm not sure Maa'm, some weird people in robes they all had a large A on the breast. We got most of them, they're secured downstairs, the upstairs is a bit of a mess we needed a makeshift hospital." He paused checking if he'd forgotten anything "Oh that was it, your needed as the last of them are in your chamber and we can't get in, apparently you know a back way in or something"
The champion wasn't sure whether to be surprised or outraged. These people had invaded her home, destroyed it, hurt innocent people and Pokémon and now they were in her room. Her private sanctum. Cynthia chose anger. "Thank you, I'll be right on it." she said trying to keep the anger out of her voice.
Cynthia concentrated, the guard had been right about a secret passage entrance to her chambers, the previous champion had mentioned it before she took his place. Her task no was to remember where it was. There, the memory in question was lurking behind a battle with a galactic grunt and stuck between the square root of twenty seven and a boring family holiday.
Over the years the layout of the entrance hall had changed but not drastically. The healing centre and shops were still in the same position and that was enough for the champion to use.
Without explaining to Gar who'd been waiting patiently or the guard who'd been staring, puzzled by her strange behaviour. Cynthia ran over to the damaged store.
The glass doors and counters of the store had been broken to provide easy access for looting. Any items of use had been looted either by the attackers or the defenders for use in their fight everything else had just been thrown unceremoniously on the floor. Clefairy dolls, escape ropes even TM's had been tossed around like rubbish.
Without instruction Gar knew to follow his trainer. They'd been partners for all thirty years of their lives and while they couldn't read each others minds like psychics their bond was exceptionally strong. Besides one thing that hadn't changed when she'd become champion, Cynthia was a magnet for trouble so she'd probably need Gar.
Like the entrance hall the store had changed over the last fifteen years growing adding shelves and colourful posters but there was one constant. The counter and checkout were still in the same place. At least what remained of the counter was in the same place, it may have been covered in ice crystals but it was still the same counter.
That was not Cynthia's destination, instead she stepped over the broken wood to where the cashier would normally stand. Like elsewhere the white tiles hadn't escaped damage. in spite of this Cynthia could clearly spot what she was looking for. The trapdoor to the storage area, picked out in black resin.
Feelings of triumph filled the champion, she'd done it she had found the secret way in. At least the entrance to the secret way in. Now she just had to hope that it still opened properly.
She was in luck, the trapdoor swung open smoothly at her first attempt. The hinges well maintained by its frequent use. With the trapdoor open their path was revealed. A flight of simple metal stairs descended into the darkness of the storage room.
Before Gar could say anything. Cynthia was already making her way down the steps to the storage area. Luckily for Cynthia the light switch was still in the same place it had always been Unlike the shop above the stock area hadn't changed much. It was small, about half the size of the shop itself
Amazingly no-one had though to come and loot this place which meant. "Guard" Cynthia called automatically taking charge of the situation. "There are injured people up there, correct. Well I'm sure there are plenty of medical supplies down here."
Cynthia didn't wait for the guard to reply, she was too busy hurrying onwards. Already she could feel the memory fading, without them she'd be unable to navigate the maze of tunnels to her chambers.
"Left here, then straight ahead and down below you go." she whispered under her breath, trying to hold onto the memories before they trickled out from her grasping hands. There in the floor an old metal grating. From her viewpoint it appeared that there was nothing beyond the grate.
The iron grate had become rusted shut from years of disuse. No matter how hard Cynthia pulled at it, it wouldn't budge. The only thing that happened was that by her fifth attempt the champion's hands had been stained red by the rust.
"If you would please Cynthia" It was Gar, he'd caught up to her whilst she was wrestling with the metal. he sighed, she hadn't understood his intentions at first, so he'd have to be a bit more direct this time. "Cynthia move, I'll handle that for you."
"Ohh, right sorry mind elsewhere, it's a right maze down there." Maybe this translator might be more useful than I first believed, Cynthia thought as she stepped aside to give Gar full access to the rusted metal.
Gar's attempt was much more successful. The grate came off its hinges with a scream of tortured metal, before being unceremoniously dumped on the floor with a clang. As it did light sprang out of the hole like a jack escaping it's depths. Cynthia chuckled briefly, there literally was light at the end of the tunnel.
"Come on Gar" she said back in serious mode again " There are currently some very unwelcome guests in my chambers, I think they need to be shown the door." Cynthia didn't need to wait for Gar's reply, she knew he'd say agree wholeheartedly and follow her.
The outpouring of light had revealed several details about the hole that Cynthia hadn't spotted. The hole wasn't bottomless, at most it went down ten metres. There was a way down, metal rungs had been hammered into the walls and then blackened so that they would be invisible to the casual observer.
For Cynthia the descent proved no trouble, the rungs were in fairly good quality and she was in good shape. For Gar it was a bit harder, as he had no real hands to speak of. He solved the problem by ignoring it and simply jumped to the bottom landing with a squelch and a splash upon the floor.
They found themselves in a small square room with brick walls. The room was illuminated by two lights both pointing down at the floor, while a third was angled up the shaft. The walls were decorated with a variety of colours of algae while the floor was covered with a thin layer of muddy water. Ahead of them a dimly lit pipe stretched out. It was wide enough to allow human and Pokémon through it and was their only route forwards.
They walked in silence. Cynthia because she was too busy working out which way they would have to go and Gar because he didn't know how far sound carried in these tunnels and didn't want to risk alerting any keen eared invader.
As Cynthia had predicted the tunnels and rooms were a tricky maze to navigate. To make matters worse most of the rooms and tunnels were indistinguishable any markings or objects long gone under decades of neglect. Occasionally a room would show up featuring something other than algae. In one room a pristine black forest gateau sat on a table while the walls of one corridor were covered in the number forty two.
The final chamber in their route proved troublesome to get to. Instead of a large tunnel connecting rooms, this was more of a small pipe barely wide enough to allow the passage of an adult human let alone a fully grown dragon type.
There was a brief moment of stalemate, Gar couldn't go forward Cynthia couldn't go back and there was no other path between the two rooms. Cynthia patted down her pockets in panic, looking for something to solve her dilemma. Cynthia was searching her penultimate pocket when she found it, Gar's Pokéball. A quick return and summon later and Gar was re-united with his trainer.
Cynthia voiced the question that had been simmering in both their minds "What is this place?"
The room they found themselves in was an oddity. Before now all the rooms had been small, utilitarian made of formal brick. This one however was large almost to the point of being cavernous and constructed from large stone slabs giving it an oppressive feel. It was well maintained to. The floors and walls were clean and showed no signs of an algae infestation. In the corner a large antiquated dehumidifier spluttered and chugged away, every so often it would belch out a cloud of smoke.
Any clue as to what the room had originally been used for was long gone however its current purpose was exceptionally obvious.
It was a dungeon.
It was as if the room had been caught in a time warp. All trapping of modern society had fled and been replaced with furnishings from a medieval dungeon. Blackened chains hung from walls and pillars, empty cages were piled up in one corner and at the very centre a series of full body restraints that looked strong enough to hold people and Pokémon.
Cynthia and Gar crossed the room gingerly, doing their best to stay as far away from any object as possible. They crossed the room in complete silence still unwilling to alert any intruders as to their presence.
Ahead of them the room slowly tapered down creating a funnel effect. Abruptly oppressive stone changed into sturdy metal. They were back in the tunnels. Only this time there was no water and the walls were devoid of Algae, evidently someone had been keeping it clean. There was lighting to, along the ceiling old bulbs with exposed wires trailed along the ceiling lighting the way onwards, while they slowly died of old age.
Cynthia and Gar slowly crept along the pipe which was silent but for the slight echo of each step. By the light of the aged bulbs Cynthia would occasionally catch glimpses of Gar's face. Normally the fierce look across Gar's face when he was angry would have been enough to scare a rampaging Tauros, now under the combination of poor lighting and flashing shadows, he could scare the mightiest of Pokémon legendary or not. Even Cynthia who knew how kind and gentle he normally was found him scary.
The closer they got to the exit the faster Cynthia's anger was replaced with fear. Whoever these mysterious invaders were they had strong Pokémon with them and, her mind flashed back to the wrecked entrance hall. Guns. She wasn't scared about her own safety, she was afraid for Gar's safety.
Fear wasn't the only thing nagging at Cynthia's troubled mind. Questions, arriving here had answered some but in the end it had just created more questions. Who were these intruders? What did they want, and most importantly. Why are they doing this?
Ahead barely visible in the flickering light was a small flight of stone stairs and at head a small shaft of light poked through. Cynthia muttered a quiet prayer to Arceus under her breath.
Nerves tingling Cynthia climbed the first few steps so her head was brushing against the exit. Tentatively she reached out with her hands and pushed. Soundlessly it lifted allowing light to pour in through the small hole temporarily blinding the passages two occupants.
As her sight returned Cynthia's world slowly returned to focus, the shapeless blobs of colour slowly returning to their original shapes. Their wasn't much for Cynthia to see, ahead of her lay a sea of tiles and a forest of wooden panels and most important of all it was completely lifeless. Beyond with confidence she threw the entrance wide open and stepped out.
Like the rest of the champion's chambers, the bathroom in which Cynthia found herself in was large, opulent and well furnished. The tiled walls featured action prints from some of the world's greatest Pokémon battles. The tiles extended to the floor so that it wouldn't matter if anyone spilt water across the floor.
The room itself was larger than the average sitting room. Most of the space was dominated by the large hot tub which served as a bath. Crammed in around it were eight showers each large enough for Pokémon to use and screened off in the corner a fine example of H.G. Lavatories finest porcelain work.
It seemed like Arceus was smiling upon them as the room they entered was devoid of occupants and the room's portal was firmly sealed. Confident she wouldn't be interrupted Cynthia took stock of her surroundings, curious as to where the secret passage had been concealed.
It was a shower. The hidden passage had been hidden underneath one of the room's showers. To be more precise the eighth shower, it had never worked and no-one had ever bothered to fix it as the other seven worked perfectly well.
Cynthia allowed a small smile to cross her face. Hidden in plain sight, no-one would ever notice it as no-one would be looking for it.
Something brushed her shoulder.
The contact was so unexpected Cynthia almost jumped out of her skin. As she span round to confront the person behind her, fear reclaimed it's icy grip around her throat.
Cynthia had never been in a fight before. Every time she'd either talked it out or had been protected by her loyal partners but now she was all alone. Her lack of knowledge was pushed to the back of her mind. Fear and desperation were calling the shots now.
"Woah, woah Cyn, Cynthia it's just me." Said Gar as her carefully caught and trapped her flailing arms pinning them against his scaly hide. "Calm down, it's just big old me." He paused, studying Cynthia's face, reading her emotions, making sure she was fine before he spoke again. "I'm going to release your hands now and."
Whatever Gar was about to say was cut off along with his breath as Cynthia wrapped her newly freed arms around his waist in a vice like hug.
"Ack... Can't breathe, Cyn you're..."
"Oh sorry" she said rapidly releasing him. Whatever panic had beset her was long gone, the normal caring Cynthia was clearly back.
"I'd appreciate it if you would save your attacks for the intruders." said Gar trying to stifle the growing tension.
"Creak" compared to the silence of the bathroom the sound of a simple floor board sounded louder than a full blown rock concert.
Cynthia and Gar froze, holding their breath, scared that a single noise would give them away. there was silence for a second, then.
"Dam Rattata even in the champions chambers, I can hear them scurrying around." A man's voice, confident and angry had drifted under the door.
in the bathroom, Cynthia and Gar breathed a slow sigh of relief. they had escaped detection and were for the moment, in the clear.
Gar pointed his talon at the door and gesticulated. For Cynthia the meaning was just as clear as it would be without the translator.
Nerves tingling, Cynthia crept along behind Gar as they made their way across the bathroom floor until a few heart pumping minutes later they reached the door.
The door continued the opulent style the bathroom had established. each piece had come from a different berry tree giving it a unique and pervading smell that was not only enjoyable but also drowned out any other smells.
There was no need for a verbal countdown. Working with the police in taking down team Galactic hideouts had given them plenty of practice on storming enemy hideouts. The fact that the current set of "bad guys" were within the champions chamber was just an extra fact.
With slow and careful movements Cynthia placed her hand upon the door handle and with great care slowly pulled the engraved handle down.
With a kick of his powerful legs Gar kicked the door open.
The helpless door rushed inwards with a loud bang and the scream of tortured hinges. The loud bang echoed around the previously silent chambers. Startling the small group of figures that were occupying it.
The effect was perfect, the intruders unprepared for an assault from the rear were clustered in front of the main entrance giving Cynthia and Gar a clear run into the apartment. Even so as she entered Cynthia felt abnormally vulnerable. Cynthia couldn't tell whether it was the lack of riot gear or the absence of a squad of Sinnoh's best armed police and Pokémon at her back. Either way she felt nervous.
"Everybody, put your hands on your head. I am the champion and this is a citizen's arrest!".
Cynthia knew that the tone of her voice would be key to the outcome of the situation. and just as Jenny had taught her Cynthia got the tone perfect. The right balance between stern authoritarian and peaceful problem solver. Had this been a normal situation with normal criminals it would have worked but this was no ordinary situation and these were no ordinary criminals.
Shocked silence reigned, evidently the shock of the champions entrance was proving difficult for the intruders to process. Then.
The figure at the centre of the group spoke up in a gravelly voice.
"Champion!?!" The way he spat out the word made it sound more like a curse than a statement. "Evidently your sinful ways have corrupted you and made you over confident. We that stand against you are pure of heart and mind as are our Pokémon. " As the figure spoke the serenity in his words faded overpowered by his madness. "We are not alone either, the creator fights with us. We are the Children of Arceus and when our god and father fights with us. Your sinful ways shall be dust in the wind.
For a second Cynthia was taken aback. Most criminals panicked and fell back on their instincts at the first sign of trouble but these people hadn't. Instead their leader had rallied and organised them making them even more dangerous than before. At least she'd gained something from the man's speech, her adversaries name. The Children Of Arceus.
A second later the pieces fell into place. The name, the speech even the intruders hooded robes. They weren't common criminals they were a bunch of crazed fanatics.
Crazed fanatics with a charismatic leader whose power of observation had not been diminished by his crazed fervour.
Despite their leaders inspiring speech there was a distinct lack of activity amongst the remainder of the hooded men. They just stood there staring into each other's hoods as if to say "go on then, after you.". In a vain attempt to use one another as cannon fodder.
The leader snarled, disgust for his cowardly followers clearly written in his face.
"None of you, none of you are brave enough to begin Arceus's work. Very well I shall do it myself." From within the depths of his robe he produced three pokéballs "Come on out my children" He shouted. "We have Arceus's work to do."
Emboldened by their leaders aggressiveness, the other four intruders began producing pokéballs from their belts and rapidly summoning their partners. By the time they had finished there were twelve Pokémon standing against Cynthia and Gar.
Cynthia could barely suppress her laughter. The invaders must have spent more time praying than raising their Pokémon at least half of them looked like they'd hatched yesterday, while the rest looked so weak even a Galactic grunt could defeat them.
Cynthia felt sorry for the poor Pokémon. It wasn't their fault that their trainers had chosen to break the law. They didn't deserve to be used in this way and nor did they deserve the amount of reptilian fury coming for them.
For Cynthia watching the fight was an almost amusing experience. Watching the poor Pokémon flailing around throwing out move after move trying to land hits on Gar, often failing badly, even hitting each other on occasion. Gar on the other hand was ruthlessly efficient. Every time his dragon claw connected one of his assailants would collapse to the floor unconscious.
It was all over in less than a minute.
The intruders stared in disbelief at the results of the battle. The luxurious carpet that covered had been charred and broken by various attacks. At the centre of the damage stood Gar, completely unharmed. While all around him the prone forms of their unconscious Pokémon littered the floor.
There was a soft thud. The smallest figure had taken one look at the array of unconscious mon and simply passed out.
Cynthia relaxed. It was all over now all she had to do was.
"Whore!" it was the intruders leader. Apparently his fanaticism was strong enough to keep him fighting even when he'd lost. With a savage cry he charged towards Gar wildly swinging his fists.
Cynthia couldn't believe the stupidity of the intruders, their Pokémon had had no luck in bringing Gar down and they'd outnumbered him twelve to one, what hope would four people have against him.
The leader was taken out first, his blind charge brought to an end by a well timed headbutt.
The next two intruders met a similar fate as they moved in trying to find Gar's blind spot, until they ran into each other and became easy prey for a quick strike with the back of Gar's Claws.
Gar dropped the last intruder with a well placed slam from his tail. the incessant battering at the door sped up before with a scream of tortured steel, the door buckled inwards wrenching the bolts away from the wall entirely.
Before the dust had a chance to settle, a score of action ready officers charged through expecting to take the enemy by surprise.
*****
It took the officers less than an hour to restrain and remove all of the intruders and their unconscious Pokémon, before they departed leaving Cynthia alone with Officer Jenny who had been leading the operation
"So let me get this straight . These children of Arceus attacked my league because they thought we were abusing our Pokémon by doing the horizontal poke dance with them." Cynthia said wiggling her fingers in the traditional method to signify inverted commas.
Jenny nodded, sending her green ponytail bobbing. "Pretty much, they believe that Arceus speaks to their leader and that interspecies unions are wrong." Jenny leaned close and put her cold hand to Cynthia's ear "Personally I don't see any problem with it and neither does Mightyena, I'm sure your Garchomp doesn't mind either." she whispered conspiratorially before backing off and continuing as if she'd never said anything. "Crazy people, they've been behind vicious attacks on various people and places but never this big," Jenny shook her head in sadness "luckily you got us plenty of prisoners to question." she smiled and turned to leave.
"Wait Jenny!" Cynthia yelled "What you said about Mightyena, did you mean it?"
"Of course he's a good boy he'll do anything for his mistress. I bet yours will too." Her tone was casual as if instead she was talking about the weather instead of carnal delights.
Cynthia was taken aback by Jenny's forward attitude. she'd always assumed that Poképhilia like the mad aunt in the attic kept secret and not discussed. "Jenny, Gar and I we don't do that sort of thing, we never have."
Jenny looked shocked at the revelation "Never, not even once?"
Cynthia simply nodded.
The shock faded from Jenny's face wiped away by the look of someone, who's heard a great joke and isn't going to tell you. "You have no idea what you're missing out on." she shivered "It's a completely different experience to anything you've had before." Her brown eyes were glazed over as she remembered something. "Oh yes so different." She said dreamily.
Jenny stood frozen for a second before she recovered. Any trace of her deviant personality smothered beneath her serious police personality. Idly she smothered her jacket down with her hands, her face filled with concentration. "Thank you for your time and co-operation citizen, I do hope we can count on your assistance in dealing with crime in the future." Without a simple farewell Jenny span around and walked out of Cynthia's chambers, over the fallen door before disappearing out of sight down the stairs .Chapter End Notes:This is part 2 part 3 will be done whenever uni (drinking and rocks) allo
The COA are not meant to represent any RL religion. I am not responsible for any offense anyone takes at their behaviour
Major thanks go out to Catsithx for Betaing this story, finding mistakes and helping out in general
Thanks go out to Torben for allowing me to bounce ideas off him which I found improved the quality and means you don't get a clichéd walk in on fapping scene.
Pokémon and all recognised characters, places and creatures belong to Nintendo, the author is in no part associated with the creators or sponsors. No copyright infringement is intended.
Any reference to pop culture or other works of fiction is done in jest and of course the original works and such are property of their creators. the author is in no part associated with the creators or sponsors. No copyright infringement is intended.
This story is mine. It will contain straight sex involving a dominant female human and a subby male Garchomp if you don't like it don't read it. Yes I know in the game Cynthia's Garchomp is female, sod it this is a work of adult fan fiction, it doesn't have to fit cannon let alone make sense.
To the readers remember "Run before you walk fly before you crawl keep going or die trying" and "keep running as you never know what's chasing you"
****
Gar must have sensed the urgency in her words earlier, as he made the trip back to the league In fifty eight minutes. A new record. Once again proving why his species were known as Mach Pokémon.
The courtyard above the waterfall was devoid of life. However it was fairly obvious that there had been life here, lots of it. Dozens of sets of footprints both human and Pokémon littered the muddy ground. There were other signs that people had been in the courtyard. Empty potion bottles had been dumped without regard for tidiness. The most telling sign was the blast and scorch marks that covered the area, one had even hit the giant pokéball painted over the entrance to the league charring the red and white black. Another attack had hit one of the towers blasting a hole in it and scattering red tiles everywhere. Cynthia and Gar exchanged worried glances.
The great iron gates to the league, normally raised out of sight were now lying in a heap of twisted metal. Unimpeded Cynthia and Gar walked into the league itself looking for signs of life.
The entrance hall was just as bad, if not worse than the courtyard, mud had been tracked in and covered the hall floor. Everywhere there were the marks of Pokémon attacks, leaves on the floor, scorch marks on the walls and rocks embedded in the ceiling. Worst of all was the copious amounts of blood. Splatters of the stuff were everywhere and not just the dark red of humans, the room was a virtual palette with the amount of shades of Pokémon blood.
"Halt" Something cold and metallic was pressed to the side of Cynthia's head. "who goes there."
The feeling of a gun pressed to one head does remarkable things to focus the mind. Cynthia's eyes tracked around the room looking for a solution to her predicament. There was nothing and Gar wouldn't do anything as long as the gun was pointed at her head. She had no choice but to answer the man's question and tell the truth. "It's Cynthia the champion, returning as asked"
There was a pause and then the sound of a safety catch being engaged. Cynthia released the breath she'd been holding with a loud sigh and turned to face her assailant.
He was about twenty, tall and pale with blond hair. His cap and jacket proclaimed him to be league security. "Great" he said the exhaustion clear in his voice."I'll inform the others you're here, they'll be delighted."
Before he could dash off Cynthia grabbed him, one hand on each should to make doubly sure. "I have one very simple question" she said her anger just as clear in her voice as it was in her stare. "Who the hell trashed my league?"
The guard gabbled, apparently all his courage was with his weapon, safely tucked away in a belt holster. "I'm not sure Maa'm, some weird people in robes they all had a large A on the breast. We got most of them, they're secured downstairs, the upstairs is a bit of a mess we needed a makeshift hospital." He paused checking if he'd forgotten anything "Oh that was it, your needed as the last of them are in your chamber and we can't get in, apparently you know a back way in or something"
The champion wasn't sure whether to be surprised or outraged. These people had invaded her home, destroyed it, hurt innocent people and Pokémon and now they were in her room. Her private sanctum. Cynthia chose anger. "Thank you, I'll be right on it." she said trying to keep the anger out of her voice.
Cynthia concentrated, the guard had been right about a secret passage entrance to her chambers, the previous champion had mentioned it before she took his place. Her task no was to remember where it was. There, the memory in question was lurking behind a battle with a galactic grunt and stuck between the square root of twenty seven and a boring family holiday.
Over the years the layout of the entrance hall had changed but not drastically. The healing centre and shops were still in the same position and that was enough for the champion to use.
Without explaining to Gar who'd been waiting patiently or the guard who'd been staring, puzzled by her strange behaviour. Cynthia ran over to the damaged store.
The glass doors and counters of the store had been broken to provide easy access for looting. Any items of use had been looted either by the attackers or the defenders for use in their fight everything else had just been thrown unceremoniously on the floor. Clefairy dolls, escape ropes even TM's had been tossed around like rubbish.
Without instruction Gar knew to follow his trainer. They'd been partners for all thirty years of their lives and while they couldn't read each others minds like psychics their bond was exceptionally strong. Besides one thing that hadn't changed when she'd become champion, Cynthia was a magnet for trouble so she'd probably need Gar.
Like the entrance hall the store had changed over the last fifteen years growing adding shelves and colourful posters but there was one constant. The counter and checkout were still in the same place. At least what remained of the counter was in the same place, it may have been covered in ice crystals but it was still the same counter.
That was not Cynthia's destination, instead she stepped over the broken wood to where the cashier would normally stand. Like elsewhere the white tiles hadn't escaped damage. in spite of this Cynthia could clearly spot what she was looking for. The trapdoor to the storage area, picked out in black resin.
Feelings of triumph filled the champion, she'd done it she had found the secret way in. At least the entrance to the secret way in. Now she just had to hope that it still opened properly.
She was in luck, the trapdoor swung open smoothly at her first attempt. The hinges well maintained by its frequent use. With the trapdoor open their path was revealed. A flight of simple metal stairs descended into the darkness of the storage room.
Before Gar could say anything. Cynthia was already making her way down the steps to the storage area. Luckily for Cynthia the light switch was still in the same place it had always been Unlike the shop above the stock area hadn't changed much. It was small, about half the size of the shop itself
Amazingly no-one had though to come and loot this place which meant. "Guard" Cynthia called automatically taking charge of the situation. "There are injured people up there, correct. Well I'm sure there are plenty of medical supplies down here."
Cynthia didn't wait for the guard to reply, she was too busy hurrying onwards. Already she could feel the memory fading, without them she'd be unable to navigate the maze of tunnels to her chambers.
"Left here, then straight ahead and down below you go." she whispered under her breath, trying to hold onto the memories before they trickled out from her grasping hands. There in the floor an old metal grating. From her viewpoint it appeared that there was nothing beyond the grate.
The iron grate had become rusted shut from years of disuse. No matter how hard Cynthia pulled at it, it wouldn't budge. The only thing that happened was that by her fifth attempt the champion's hands had been stained red by the rust.
"If you would please Cynthia" It was Gar, he'd caught up to her whilst she was wrestling with the metal. he sighed, she hadn't understood his intentions at first, so he'd have to be a bit more direct this time. "Cynthia move, I'll handle that for you."
"Ohh, right sorry mind elsewhere, it's a right maze down there." Maybe this translator might be more useful than I first believed, Cynthia thought as she stepped aside to give Gar full access to the rusted metal.
Gar's attempt was much more successful. The grate came off its hinges with a scream of tortured metal, before being unceremoniously dumped on the floor with a clang. As it did light sprang out of the hole like a jack escaping it's depths. Cynthia chuckled briefly, there literally was light at the end of the tunnel.
"Come on Gar" she said back in serious mode again " There are currently some very unwelcome guests in my chambers, I think they need to be shown the door." Cynthia didn't need to wait for Gar's reply, she knew he'd say agree wholeheartedly and follow her.
The outpouring of light had revealed several details about the hole that Cynthia hadn't spotted. The hole wasn't bottomless, at most it went down ten metres. There was a way down, metal rungs had been hammered into the walls and then blackened so that they would be invisible to the casual observer.
For Cynthia the descent proved no trouble, the rungs were in fairly good quality and she was in good shape. For Gar it was a bit harder, as he had no real hands to speak of. He solved the problem by ignoring it and simply jumped to the bottom landing with a squelch and a splash upon the floor.
They found themselves in a small square room with brick walls. The room was illuminated by two lights both pointing down at the floor, while a third was angled up the shaft. The walls were decorated with a variety of colours of algae while the floor was covered with a thin layer of muddy water. Ahead of them a dimly lit pipe stretched out. It was wide enough to allow human and Pokémon through it and was their only route forwards.
They walked in silence. Cynthia because she was too busy working out which way they would have to go and Gar because he didn't know how far sound carried in these tunnels and didn't want to risk alerting any keen eared invader.
As Cynthia had predicted the tunnels and rooms were a tricky maze to navigate. To make matters worse most of the rooms and tunnels were indistinguishable any markings or objects long gone under decades of neglect. Occasionally a room would show up featuring something other than algae. In one room a pristine black forest gateau sat on a table while the walls of one corridor were covered in the number forty two.
The final chamber in their route proved troublesome to get to. Instead of a large tunnel connecting rooms, this was more of a small pipe barely wide enough to allow the passage of an adult human let alone a fully grown dragon type.
There was a brief moment of stalemate, Gar couldn't go forward Cynthia couldn't go back and there was no other path between the two rooms. Cynthia patted down her pockets in panic, looking for something to solve her dilemma. Cynthia was searching her penultimate pocket when she found it, Gar's Pokéball. A quick return and summon later and Gar was re-united with his trainer.
Cynthia voiced the question that had been simmering in both their minds "What is this place?"
The room they found themselves in was an oddity. Before now all the rooms had been small, utilitarian made of formal brick. This one however was large almost to the point of being cavernous and constructed from large stone slabs giving it an oppressive feel. It was well maintained to. The floors and walls were clean and showed no signs of an algae infestation. In the corner a large antiquated dehumidifier spluttered and chugged away, every so often it would belch out a cloud of smoke.
Any clue as to what the room had originally been used for was long gone however its current purpose was exceptionally obvious.
It was a dungeon.
It was as if the room had been caught in a time warp. All trapping of modern society had fled and been replaced with furnishings from a medieval dungeon. Blackened chains hung from walls and pillars, empty cages were piled up in one corner and at the very centre a series of full body restraints that looked strong enough to hold people and Pokémon.
Cynthia and Gar crossed the room gingerly, doing their best to stay as far away from any object as possible. They crossed the room in complete silence still unwilling to alert any intruders as to their presence.
Ahead of them the room slowly tapered down creating a funnel effect. Abruptly oppressive stone changed into sturdy metal. They were back in the tunnels. Only this time there was no water and the walls were devoid of Algae, evidently someone had been keeping it clean. There was lighting to, along the ceiling old bulbs with exposed wires trailed along the ceiling lighting the way onwards, while they slowly died of old age.
Cynthia and Gar slowly crept along the pipe which was silent but for the slight echo of each step. By the light of the aged bulbs Cynthia would occasionally catch glimpses of Gar's face. Normally the fierce look across Gar's face when he was angry would have been enough to scare a rampaging Tauros, now under the combination of poor lighting and flashing shadows, he could scare the mightiest of Pokémon legendary or not. Even Cynthia who knew how kind and gentle he normally was found him scary.
The closer they got to the exit the faster Cynthia's anger was replaced with fear. Whoever these mysterious invaders were they had strong Pokémon with them and, her mind flashed back to the wrecked entrance hall. Guns. She wasn't scared about her own safety, she was afraid for Gar's safety.
Fear wasn't the only thing nagging at Cynthia's troubled mind. Questions, arriving here had answered some but in the end it had just created more questions. Who were these intruders? What did they want, and most importantly. Why are they doing this?
Ahead barely visible in the flickering light was a small flight of stone stairs and at head a small shaft of light poked through. Cynthia muttered a quiet prayer to Arceus under her breath.
Nerves tingling Cynthia climbed the first few steps so her head was brushing against the exit. Tentatively she reached out with her hands and pushed. Soundlessly it lifted allowing light to pour in through the small hole temporarily blinding the passages two occupants.
As her sight returned Cynthia's world slowly returned to focus, the shapeless blobs of colour slowly returning to their original shapes. Their wasn't much for Cynthia to see, ahead of her lay a sea of tiles and a forest of wooden panels and most important of all it was completely lifeless. Beyond with confidence she threw the entrance wide open and stepped out.
Like the rest of the champion's chambers, the bathroom in which Cynthia found herself in was large, opulent and well furnished. The tiled walls featured action prints from some of the world's greatest Pokémon battles. The tiles extended to the floor so that it wouldn't matter if anyone spilt water across the floor.
The room itself was larger than the average sitting room. Most of the space was dominated by the large hot tub which served as a bath. Crammed in around it were eight showers each large enough for Pokémon to use and screened off in the corner a fine example of H.G. Lavatories finest porcelain work.
It seemed like Arceus was smiling upon them as the room they entered was devoid of occupants and the room's portal was firmly sealed. Confident she wouldn't be interrupted Cynthia took stock of her surroundings, curious as to where the secret passage had been concealed.
It was a shower. The hidden passage had been hidden underneath one of the room's showers. To be more precise the eighth shower, it had never worked and no-one had ever bothered to fix it as the other seven worked perfectly well.
Cynthia allowed a small smile to cross her face. Hidden in plain sight, no-one would ever notice it as no-one would be looking for it.
Something brushed her shoulder.
The contact was so unexpected Cynthia almost jumped out of her skin. As she span round to confront the person behind her, fear reclaimed it's icy grip around her throat.
Cynthia had never been in a fight before. Every time she'd either talked it out or had been protected by her loyal partners but now she was all alone. Her lack of knowledge was pushed to the back of her mind. Fear and desperation were calling the shots now.
"Woah, woah Cyn, Cynthia it's just me." Said Gar as her carefully caught and trapped her flailing arms pinning them against his scaly hide. "Calm down, it's just big old me." He paused, studying Cynthia's face, reading her emotions, making sure she was fine before he spoke again. "I'm going to release your hands now and."
Whatever Gar was about to say was cut off along with his breath as Cynthia wrapped her newly freed arms around his waist in a vice like hug.
"Ack... Can't breathe, Cyn you're..."
"Oh sorry" she said rapidly releasing him. Whatever panic had beset her was long gone, the normal caring Cynthia was clearly back.
"I'd appreciate it if you would save your attacks for the intruders." said Gar trying to stifle the growing tension.
"Creak" compared to the silence of the bathroom the sound of a simple floor board sounded louder than a full blown rock concert.
Cynthia and Gar froze, holding their breath, scared that a single noise would give them away. there was silence for a second, then.
"Dam Rattata even in the champions chambers, I can hear them scurrying around." A man's voice, confident and angry had drifted under the door.
in the bathroom, Cynthia and Gar breathed a slow sigh of relief. they had escaped detection and were for the moment, in the clear.
Gar pointed his talon at the door and gesticulated. For Cynthia the meaning was just as clear as it would be without the translator.
Nerves tingling, Cynthia crept along behind Gar as they made their way across the bathroom floor until a few heart pumping minutes later they reached the door.
The door continued the opulent style the bathroom had established. each piece had come from a different berry tree giving it a unique and pervading smell that was not only enjoyable but also drowned out any other smells.
There was no need for a verbal countdown. Working with the police in taking down team Galactic hideouts had given them plenty of practice on storming enemy hideouts. The fact that the current set of "bad guys" were within the champions chamber was just an extra fact.
With slow and careful movements Cynthia placed her hand upon the door handle and with great care slowly pulled the engraved handle down.
With a kick of his powerful legs Gar kicked the door open.
The helpless door rushed inwards with a loud bang and the scream of tortured hinges. The loud bang echoed around the previously silent chambers. Startling the small group of figures that were occupying it.
The effect was perfect, the intruders unprepared for an assault from the rear were clustered in front of the main entrance giving Cynthia and Gar a clear run into the apartment. Even so as she entered Cynthia felt abnormally vulnerable. Cynthia couldn't tell whether it was the lack of riot gear or the absence of a squad of Sinnoh's best armed police and Pokémon at her back. Either way she felt nervous.
"Everybody, put your hands on your head. I am the champion and this is a citizen's arrest!".
Cynthia knew that the tone of her voice would be key to the outcome of the situation. and just as Jenny had taught her Cynthia got the tone perfect. The right balance between stern authoritarian and peaceful problem solver. Had this been a normal situation with normal criminals it would have worked but this was no ordinary situation and these were no ordinary criminals.
Shocked silence reigned, evidently the shock of the champions entrance was proving difficult for the intruders to process. Then.
The figure at the centre of the group spoke up in a gravelly voice.
"Champion!?!" The way he spat out the word made it sound more like a curse than a statement. "Evidently your sinful ways have corrupted you and made you over confident. We that stand against you are pure of heart and mind as are our Pokémon. " As the figure spoke the serenity in his words faded overpowered by his madness. "We are not alone either, the creator fights with us. We are the Children of Arceus and when our god and father fights with us. Your sinful ways shall be dust in the wind.
For a second Cynthia was taken aback. Most criminals panicked and fell back on their instincts at the first sign of trouble but these people hadn't. Instead their leader had rallied and organised them making them even more dangerous than before. At least she'd gained something from the man's speech, her adversaries name. The Children Of Arceus.
A second later the pieces fell into place. The name, the speech even the intruders hooded robes. They weren't common criminals they were a bunch of crazed fanatics.
Crazed fanatics with a charismatic leader whose power of observation had not been diminished by his crazed fervour.
Despite their leaders inspiring speech there was a distinct lack of activity amongst the remainder of the hooded men. They just stood there staring into each other's hoods as if to say "go on then, after you.". In a vain attempt to use one another as cannon fodder.
The leader snarled, disgust for his cowardly followers clearly written in his face.
"None of you, none of you are brave enough to begin Arceus's work. Very well I shall do it myself." From within the depths of his robe he produced three pokéballs "Come on out my children" He shouted. "We have Arceus's work to do."
Emboldened by their leaders aggressiveness, the other four intruders began producing pokéballs from their belts and rapidly summoning their partners. By the time they had finished there were twelve Pokémon standing against Cynthia and Gar.
Cynthia could barely suppress her laughter. The invaders must have spent more time praying than raising their Pokémon at least half of them looked like they'd hatched yesterday, while the rest looked so weak even a Galactic grunt could defeat them.
Cynthia felt sorry for the poor Pokémon. It wasn't their fault that their trainers had chosen to break the law. They didn't deserve to be used in this way and nor did they deserve the amount of reptilian fury coming for them.
For Cynthia watching the fight was an almost amusing experience. Watching the poor Pokémon flailing around throwing out move after move trying to land hits on Gar, often failing badly, even hitting each other on occasion. Gar on the other hand was ruthlessly efficient. Every time his dragon claw connected one of his assailants would collapse to the floor unconscious.
It was all over in less than a minute.
The intruders stared in disbelief at the results of the battle. The luxurious carpet that covered had been charred and broken by various attacks. At the centre of the damage stood Gar, completely unharmed. While all around him the prone forms of their unconscious Pokémon littered the floor.
There was a soft thud. The smallest figure had taken one look at the array of unconscious mon and simply passed out.
Cynthia relaxed. It was all over now all she had to do was.
"Whore!" it was the intruders leader. Apparently his fanaticism was strong enough to keep him fighting even when he'd lost. With a savage cry he charged towards Gar wildly swinging his fists.
Cynthia couldn't believe the stupidity of the intruders, their Pokémon had had no luck in bringing Gar down and they'd outnumbered him twelve to one, what hope would four people have against him.
The leader was taken out first, his blind charge brought to an end by a well timed headbutt.
The next two intruders met a similar fate as they moved in trying to find Gar's blind spot, until they ran into each other and became easy prey for a quick strike with the back of Gar's Claws.
Gar dropped the last intruder with a well placed slam from his tail. the incessant battering at the door sped up before with a scream of tortured steel, the door buckled inwards wrenching the bolts away from the wall entirely.
Before the dust had a chance to settle, a score of action ready officers charged through expecting to take the enemy by surprise.
*****
It took the officers less than an hour to restrain and remove all of the intruders and their unconscious Pokémon, before they departed leaving Cynthia alone with Officer Jenny who had been leading the operation
"So let me get this straight . These children of Arceus attacked my league because they thought we were abusing our Pokémon by doing the horizontal poke dance with them." Cynthia said wiggling her fingers in the traditional method to signify inverted commas.
Jenny nodded, sending her green ponytail bobbing. "Pretty much, they believe that Arceus speaks to their leader and that interspecies unions are wrong." Jenny leaned close and put her cold hand to Cynthia's ear "Personally I don't see any problem with it and neither does Mightyena, I'm sure your Garchomp doesn't mind either." she whispered conspiratorially before backing off and continuing as if she'd never said anything. "Crazy people, they've been behind vicious attacks on various people and places but never this big," Jenny shook her head in sadness "luckily you got us plenty of prisoners to question." she smiled and turned to leave.
"Wait Jenny!" Cynthia yelled "What you said about Mightyena, did you mean it?"
"Of course he's a good boy he'll do anything for his mistress. I bet yours will too." Her tone was casual as if instead she was talking about the weather instead of carnal delights.
Cynthia was taken aback by Jenny's forward attitude. she'd always assumed that Poképhilia like the mad aunt in the attic kept secret and not discussed. "Jenny, Gar and I we don't do that sort of thing, we never have."
Jenny looked shocked at the revelation "Never, not even once?"
Cynthia simply nodded.
The shock faded from Jenny's face wiped away by the look of someone, who's heard a great joke and isn't going to tell you. "You have no idea what you're missing out on." she shivered "It's a completely different experience to anything you've had before." Her brown eyes were glazed over as she remembered something. "Oh yes so different." She said dreamily.
Jenny stood frozen for a second before she recovered. Any trace of her deviant personality smothered beneath her serious police personality. Idly she smothered her jacket down with her hands, her face filled with concentration. "Thank you for your time and co-operation citizen, I do hope we can count on your assistance in dealing with crime in the future." Without a simple farewell Jenny span around and walked out of Cynthia's chambers, over the fallen door before disappearing out of sight down the stairs .Chapter End Notes:This is part 2 part 3 will be done whenever uni (drinking and rocks) allo