Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

For the third time that couple minutes, Cyrus stopped walking and glared over his shoulder at Cynthia, still following him despite his attempts to convince her otherwise.

"I'm serious," he said, impatient. "Look, I'm glad that you beat the Gym leader and I had a great time hanging out with you too, but…"

Cynthia shot her index finger forward, pointing straight at her nose.

"Aaaand that's where you should end it!" she exclaimed. "Now, aren't you the one that said he'd love to accompany me on my travels? Or was that just sweet talk, mister sweet-talker?"

"I… I w-would never…" Cyrus took a step back, blushing and overwhelmed. "Look, it's… it's not like that."

"Then what's it like?"

"I wish I could come with you but I… can't," he said, shoulders deflating. "My mom would never let me."

Cynthia scoffed, shaking her head. "You're eighteen! What's she gonna do, stop you?"

He didn't have a response for that. Mostly because, well… Cynthia was right. If he really wanted to…

You do want it! a voice in his mind yelled.

If mother didn't need him…

She doesn't! You cause more problems than you solve!

If he… if they…

See? There is no argument to be made! Cynthia's right!

But… leaving his home? Roaming the region while the war still raged on? It was idiocy! It was…

She felt a hand on his shoulder and jolted back to reality, the full brunt of Cynthia's stormy eyes meeting his. He shivered.

"Set eyes on your goal," she said, her voice suddenly weightier, more serious. "And don't let anyone, anyone veer you from that path."

They stared at each other for what felt like an entire minute, everything but the sight of each other's eyes disappearing around them. When Cyrus finally looked away, he did it quickly, sharply. He shook her hand off his shoulder and started walking away.

"That's not the kind of person I am," he whispered to himself.

"Cyrus!" she heard Cynthia call, then heard her start walking. "Cyrus, come on!"

He didn't stop, but neither did she. A grimace formed on his face. What was this girl's deal? Why was she so obsessed in making him come with her? What did she see in him?

"You know this is what you want!" she said, starting to catch up to him. "Why let others stop you?"

"Because we can't always get what we want!" he hissed, refusing to turn around, starting to walk faster. "Just… stop following me! We're getting close to my house, I don't want mother t–"

"That's it!"

Cyrus didn't like one bit the clear triumph in Cynthia's voice, as though the girl had just gotten an epiphany.

"I'll talk to your mom! I'll convince her to let you come with me!" she exclaimed. "If she says yes then there'll be no problem, right? You won't have any more reservations."

It was hard to describe just how badly Cyrus panicked at that. His heart seized up, as though someone had grabbed at it with cold hands. And worst of all; they were almost there. He could see his house only a few yards away.

"A-absolutely not!" He stopped and turned sharply toward her. "You don't know her, there's no way she'd…"

"Oh come on, how hard can it be?" shrugged Cynthia, smiling. "She's your mom, I'm sure once I explain the situation she'll let you do what makes you happy."

Cyrus had no response to that. He stared at Cynthia gormlessly, as though he could barely believed the words that had just come out of her mouth. How could she make such an assumption? For someone so apparently well travelled, she was incredibly naïve.

"She's not like that," he said coolly. "I'm serious, Cynthia. Don't."

His own expression was mirrored back to him. Cynthia looked like she honestly didn't understand why anyone would be this frightened of a relative. She still had that irritating smile on her face. Like she believed all this was some joke Cyrus was trying to play on her.

"We really gotta work on your self-esteem sometime," she said, shaking her head. "But for now, all you gotta do is trust me."

Then, she shot forward like a bullet, passing him and running straight toward his house. Cyrus felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"No! Wait!"

By the time he caught up to her, grabbing onto her arm, they were practically at the door of his house. Cynthia turned to him with that playful smile on her face. She raised her free hand and was about to knock on the door when a voice boomed from the inside, freezing them both in place.

"What do you mean by that!? What the hell kind of mother are you!?"

Because Cyrus was still holding onto Cynthia's arm, the girl felt as his entire body shivered. She saw as a look of pure horror crept up his face, his already pale skin now looking like that of a corpse.

"Oh no…"

"C-Cyrus?"

He looked up at her, lower lip shaking. "I-it's father. He's home…"

Hot, sulfuric wind whirled around Reiko as she stood atop her Fearow, looking down at what she once considered the most beautiful and majestic mountain in the world.

Her throat dried up at the sight, nose scrunching up at the smell of ash and smoke and burning flora, so thick she could taste it every time she moved her tongue inside her mouth. Even this far above, it was getting to her. And to think soon she would have to…

She swallowed, but it only made her throat more dry and hoarse.

"This… this is…"

The mountain was so wide and massive she could only see a small portion of it from where she stood, but even so, she couldn't imagine the rest would look much different. From the base to about two thousand meters up in an almost perfect ring, most of the ground was overrun by a landslide of volcanic rock. Yet it looked different from what Reiko remembered from Cinnabar. Instead of having dried up, the constant stream of lava flowing down from the top of the ring seeped into the cracks and crevices, lighting them up like glowing scars onto the ground itself.

Because of that, it never got a chance to fully dry up. A sound like that of glass breaking echoed all around her as spurts of lava broke through the volcanic rock like water from a spout, only to dry and expand into a round, amorphous blob from which yet another spurt would break out soon after. And that was just a small portion of the entire landscape before her, creaking and roaring and shifting constantly as though the ground itself was alive, a horrifying thought only made more so by the dark, enormous clouds of smoke rising up from the ring of lava itself, swallowing the upper part of Mt. Coronet.

It was the most captivating sight Reiko had ever laid eyes on, and it filled her with nothing but a deep, gut-wrenching terror.

Is this the last thing dad and Ye-jun saw before they…?

That thought alone was enough to bring her back to reality. She clenched her fists and took a quick, furious breath, the air-bending heat emanating from the mountain itself now only a pale comparison to the flames that began licking up the outline of her body. Moltres' presence pulsed inside her like a second heartbeat. Eager and hungry. In this, at least, the two of them were in perfect agreement.

"Knives… fly as close as you can to the openings where the lava's coming from," she said. "I'll jump at the last second."

And you… she thought, frowning at her little soul-roommate. I'll have to borrow your power for a bit so the landing doesn't break my legs.

For once, the fire inside of her did not argue.

"Kryyy!"

Knives extended his wingspan to their full length and dove down toward the smoking mountain like a bullet. Reiko knelt, holding onto her Pokemon as the sudden burst of wind made her hair fly freely behind her like the flame of a candle. As they got closer, the heat got more and more oppressive. By the time Knives was almost in range for her to jump, the tip of the Fearow's feathers had started smoking.

"Knives, go to Percy once I'm gone! He'll need you to take him somewhere!" she cried out against the roaring wind. "And… thank you. Now!"

A few yards from the wide, burning opening into the inside of the mountain, just when the heat was getting too much, Knives turned sharply in mid air. At the same time, Reiko jumped. The sudden momentum threw her forward and down a lot faster than she'd expected and she grit her teeth as the burning ground came at her like a flash.

Her whole body flashed like a burning flame, and a second after she crashed at the mouth of the opening with enough strength to send lava and volcanic rock flying in a circle around her, the ground cracking under her feet.

She stood still for a second, but felt no pain.

Great… legs aren't broken. Now…

Another stream of lava rushed forth from the opening to fill the crater she'd just created, and while she did flinch as it crashed against her feet and calves, once again no pain came. The lava simply parted half an inch around her body, as though she were magnetically repellant.

"Well then… step one completed without dying," she whispered to herself, relief clear in her voice. "Hope I can keep the streak going."

Maylene's heart sank when she felt the teleportation rune start to pulse in her pocket, emitting a warm light. Candice noticed it too, and held on to her arm as though she were drowning and it were a life preserver.

"It's time," she whispered, looking at her girlfriend apologetically. "Babe, you're gonna get teleported with me instead of Lucario if you don't let go."

She felt a terrible guilt at the face Candice made, lips pursing and eyes narrowing, almost unable to meet her gaze. Then again, this wasn't any easier for her.

"I know. I just wish we could have a bit more time."

Maylene did her best to smile. She reached to Candice with her free hand and placed her palm against the girl's cheek. Immediately, her hand was cusped by her girlfriend's. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning against the touch like she didn't want it to end.

"We're always gonna want that," said Maylene. "Trust me, we'll have all the time to ourselves we could want after all this is over."

Candice's hand tightened against her own. "Promise?"

"Promise," she nodded.

She felt a knot form in her stomach as she stepped away from Candice and turned toward Lucario, who stared at her expectant. She gave him a firm nod and extended her hand. As he placed his paw on top of it, she reached for the rune with the other hand and held it between her thumb and index finger.

"Stay safe," said Candice, tone desperate. "Please."

Maylene shone her one last smile. "Don't worry, babe. I know that if I die you'll come down to the underworld to kick my ass. I'll behave."

And, before she could bring herself to regret it, she crushed the fragile rune between her fingers. Light burst at her feet. A wide, spinning set of concentric circles materialized under them, glowing with psychic power. Maylene felt as the air around them tightened and shifted, and a second after she was there no more.

By the time she drew her next breath, it came in hot and dusty and stale.

"Finally. I was starting to think you weren't coming."

It took a few seconds for her eyes to get used to the sudden darkness, the only light inside the cave they were in coming from the distant, downward glow of what must have been flowing lava. Her knees wobbled and she had to lean against one of the rocky walls. Lucario hadn't been as badly affected by the sudden teleportation, but his heavy breathing made it clear it had taken a toll on him.

Reiko stood before her, the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the cave they were in doing nothing to dispel the girl's fiery and determined look. She stood there with one hand on her hip, the other grabbing onto that beautiful tachi of hers, resting on her shoulder.

"Yeah… just saying my goodbyes," Maylene said between pants. "You know how it is."

She got a sad smile as a response. "Yeah, I can imagine..." She cleared her throat and looked at them. "Got everything you need?"

"Yeah, brought my weapon," she said, pointing at the wooden bokken tied to her belt, "and a backpack with provisions. Should last us a week or so. Enough for the mission."

"Right," nodded Reiko, then pointed toward the wall. "Here, let's sit down for a sec. Teleportation can be pretty taxing. We can take a quick breather before we part."

"Yeah, thanks…"

Maylene's legs thanked her deeply as she sat down next to Reiko, her body hurting and throbbing as though she'd run a marathon. As soon as her butt touched the ground, she crossed her legs and placed her hand together in a meditative pose, closing her eyes. She breathed in and out slowly, trying to bring her heartbeat back to normal.

"Oh, hey. That's the meditation pose you taught me back when we visited Veilstone," said Reiko. "Haven't… used it much since, I'm afraid. Not a very meditative person."

"I can believe that," whispered Maylene, lips quirking up into a smile. "And yes… this pose facilitates the flow of aura throughout the body. I have been saving my energy for the past few hours in preparation; I should be ready to go in only a few minutes."

Lucario sat down next to them, imitating Maylene, the only difference being that his body actually started to glow once he began meditating, the flow of aura much more noticeable in him. Instantly, Maylene felt his presence. She felt his thoughts and emotions as though they were her own, and she could also almost see their surroundings and the layout of the cave around them, even with her eyes closed.

She heard Reiko make a noise not quite like a gasp, but not too far off either. She must have felt it too, even if she couldn't see it.

"You noticed, huh? You have sharp instincts," said Maylene, still keeping her eyes closed. "I'm guessing it's not all due to Moltres' influence."

Reiko let out a soft chuckle. "Yeah, I guess I owe it to my training more than anything else," she said. "Especially to Sabrina and the mediums of Lavender tower. Thanks to them, I can usually sense when things are… odd, around me."

"Odd. Funny way to put it."

"Hey, you're the one that was complaining a while ago about my teleporting tachi, then you go and do this," Reiko accused jokingly. "I'm clearly not the only one here with bullshit magic stuff going on."

"Magic, huh? I guess… it would look like that from the outside," said Maylene. "Trust me though, there is nothing mystical about this. It's also not nearly as impressive as you probably think it is."

She could feel Reiko squinting at her, as though trying to see what she was doing by power of will alone.

"Yeah, I mean… I can definitely sense something from Lucario. See it too," she said, glancing at the glowing Pokemon. "It's like a strong pressure in the air. But with you I have to concentrate to feel it."

Maylene gave a small nod. "Riolu and Lucario are, as far as I know, the only Pokemon capable of freely manipulating aura. It's something they're… born with." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice at that. "What I can do is just a very pale imitation of the real thing. It doesn't have nearly as many applications as being bonded with a legendary Pokemon."

"Still, the fact that you can do that much is impressive enough. I heard from Jasmine that back in Koga's day, practitioners of the Fuchsia dojo learned about aura too. But it was kinda opposite to your thing. Instead of feeling it and controlling it, they'd learn how to suppress it in order to hide their presence," explained Reiko, a hint of excitement in her voice. "Though of course, very few people could do it. I think she said only one in a thousand practitioners had the capacity for it."

Interesting, she thought. For…understandable reasons, practitioners of the martial arts from both Sinnoh and Kanto were usually reluctant to talk about their respective styles to each other, preferring to keep their secrets to themselves. That Reiko was telling her this must have meant she had no such reservations.

It was silly, but she couldn't help but smile at that.

"It's the same for us, unfortunately," she said. "My family used to have a dojo all about the learning of aura manipulation, but… it closed down a few generations ago. Mom said that it was because as time passed, fewer and fewer people had the right aptitude to learn. And those who did weren't interested in putting so much work in for such a meager payoff," she explained. "So in the end this style ended up being passed down only through the Avalon family."

Reiko let out an affirmative noise. She already knew about her family, because Maylene had told her before. She'd told her about how, after Rowan's insistence in leaving the family tradition behind to become a Pokemon professor, his daughter Mary had disowned him and dedicated herself fully to her training. She'd told her about how her mother always had that hungry yet frustrated glint in her eyes whenever she trained. Like she knew she was this close to finally unlocking her powers and being able to use aura in the same way her Lucario could. In the same way myth said humans could, long ago.

Eventually, disillusioned by her failure, she made sure to pass down all that she'd learned to Maylene, hoping that she might be the one to grasp the power her ancestors once wielded. That's why she'd pushed her so far. Why she made her go through such a hellish training ever since she became 5.

Even in her deathbed, she never stopped believing in her.

Guess disappointment runs in the family, Maylene thought bitterly. After years and years of training, she was barely more proficient than her mother had been. She could feel everything Lucario felt, of course. She could sometimes sense her surroundings when closing her eyes if she concentrated hard enough, and she could use meditation to swirl her aura around her body in order to recover from wounds slightly faster than normal. Other than that…

"I've… accepted that there's probably a reason why we humans can't wield aura so well anymore," she said, shrugging. "Besides, power's not the reason I became a martial artist. Self-control, mastery over mind and body and my bond with Lucario are reward enough, I think."

"Heh, yeah. There's only so much we can do as humans, I guess." Reiko cleared her throat, and suddenly her voice got deeper and colder. "'Humanity's true power lies the acknowledgment of their individual weakness, and their willingness to cooperate with each other in order to overcome it'." She took a breath after that, and her voice returned to normal. "Sabrina told me that once. Said that psychics like her are an oddity, that individual power is not nearly as useful as people think it is and that you can accomplish a lot more with the ability to convince others to work together."

At that, Maylene opened her eyes, breaking her meditation, and gave Reiko a shifty side-glance, one eyebrow raised.

"Let me guess… that nugget of wisdom didn't come out of nowhere. She was trying to teach you a lesson, wasn't she?"

Reiko sighed and let her shoulders fall, incriminating herself.

"She always told me her teachings would come in useful, but not in the way I expected. I never got that until now."

Maylene nodded. "In my months of teaching at my dojo I've realized that a good way to teach someone a lesson is to give them the means to get what they think they want, then sit back and watch as they realize how wrong they were."

"Heh. With that in mind, a lot of what she taught me is starting to make more sense," she said. "Same with the other six Gym leaders and the mediums of Lavender tower. They taught me a lot more than how to fight… and I'm only now realizing that. Talk about a lousy apprentice."

Maylene shone her a quick, bright smile, which was returned in full.

"You managed to bring together those eight different styles under a single blade. I'd say that makes you pretty amazing," she said. "Hell, once this is all over you could open up a dojo of your own. You'd just have to come up with a name for your unique style of swordsmanship. Something cool and snappy. So in other words… definitely don't ask Inyssa or Barry to help you with that."

Reiko looked like she was about to say something, but then laughter rose up her stomach and she couldn't contain it. Maylene smiled at the strident sound, which made the murky cave they were in feel a bit less oppressive than before.

"Y-yeah… yeah," she muttered in between giggles. "No offense to them obviously, but still…"

Something about the casual nature of their conversation managed to ease Maylene's nerves more than any amount of meditating could. She'd always liked Reiko ever since she'd come to Veilstone to claim her badge. The redhead was strong, diligent and quick on her feet, which made her such a great sparring partner that –during that entire week– they'd almost forgot that they were supposed to be training their Pokemon, not each other.

It was easy to talk to her about stuff that Candice, bless her heart, tried her best to understand but simply couldn't because she wasn't a martial artist. But Reiko understood, sometimes even without words, just like Lucario did. Before, Maylene had been bummed out when Reiko and Percy had left in pursuit of their next badge, yet here they were now, brought together by fate.

Once this all blows over, I should ask her to be my friend, thought Maylene, smiling. Lord knows I could use a few more of those.

"Still… a name, huh?" Once she could stop laughing, Reiko raised her tachi in front of her and stared at it, lost in thought for a moment. "Guess I'll have plenty of time to think of one on the way down."

They sat in silence like that for a few more seconds, until Maylene sighed and forced herself to stand up, using her hands to dust herself off. Lucario did the same a moment after, his expression eager.

"I guess it's about time we get going, huh?" she said, trying to keep the nervousness from her voice.

Reiko nodded solemnly, then jumped up to her feet and shone her a confident smile, tachi resting on her shoulder.

"Thanks for the talk," she said. "Really took my mind off the fact that I'm about to swim in lava."

Maylene laughed. "Hey, I gotta track a handful of people through the biggest, most confusing system of caves in the whole world and you don't see me complaining about it."

In unison, they both took a step forward and tapped their fists together.

"Good luck up there," said Reiko. "What'd you say, I owe you a sparring match and a beer when we get back?"

"I don't drink, but I'd be happy to wipe the floor with you," smiled Maylene. "So sure. I'll look forward to it."