4 years later...

Rudra had woken up later than usual today. He had spent most of the night helping Cynthia pack up her belongings.

She was leaving today. It was heartwrenching for him to know that she wouldn't be with him. Even though it was only 4 years, he knew it would feel like forever.

But he still remembered that day from four years ago, the promise that she had made, to return when he turns sixteen and go on an adventure together. That memory was still fresh in his mind, and it was quite important to him.

A lot happened during the years that passed by.

Luffy had met Red Haired Shanks, a pirate captain who used to bring his crew to relax in their village. He had always wanted to be a Pirate and had quickly made friends with him and his entire crew. One day, to prove his courage and determination to become a pirate, he cut himself under his left eye with a knife. He was taken to the Pokémon Centre after the incident and had been reprimanded by everyone. He was punished with a meat ban and was only forgiven after he had asked for forgiveness about a thousand times.

He had also eaten his devil fruit and was again punished. Troubles seemed to follow this kid wherever he went, or it might just have been his stupidity. He had also been kidnapped by the bandits that had come to the village but had been rescued by their gang of kids and their Pokémon.

Ash, Gary, and May had received their own Pokémon too, and were very excited to spend time with their new friends. Ash especially had been in a frenzy since he had received Pikachu. He had been disappointed at first since he it was not a starter Pokémon, but quickly got over it and made friends with it. Later everybody realized that his Pikachu was an abnormal one, and was way stronger than other Pikachus.

When Rudra had asked Paimon to analyze him, he was surprised a little bit when he saw the potential of that Pokémon. It had Mythical potential. So far he had only seen two other Pokémon with Mythical potential, his Blaziken, and Cynthia's Garchomp. Ash had gotten himself a terrifying beast of an electric mouse.

The gang had started training along with each other and had formed a leaderboard between them. They used to hold regular matches between them and ranked each other from strongest to weakest.

The current rankings were

1. Rudra / Cynthia

2. Ace

3. Sabo

4. Ash

5. Luffy

5. Gary

6. May

The first place had always been occupied by Rudra and Cynthia. No one was able to beat them neither in Pokémon battles nor in Combat spars. They were just too strong for them.

Ace and Sabo too kept changing their rankings as they were equally strong in all aspects.

Ash, Gary, Luffy, and May also kept changing their rankings all the time. Ash was the best Pokémon trainer after Rudra and Cynthia, closely followed by Gary. The two of them could even beat Ace and Sabo in Pokémon battles but were no match for them in combat. Luffy was not as good as Ace and Sabo in combat now, but he would surpass them in the future. May was more into Pokémon Contests and was training hard to make her Pokémons' moves as beautiful and elegant as they could get.

Back to the present day...

Rudra performed his daily chores and set off toward Cynthia's house. He entered the house directly and saw her fiddling with her luggage. She was looking gorgeous today. She was wearing a beautiful white and golden outfit for the occasion.

She heard someone open the door behind her and knew Rudra had entered her house. She called out to him when she didn't hear him say anything,

"Rudra, come here and help check if everything has been packed perfectly."

Rudra nodded and helped her and took occasional glances at her while doing the task. She knew that he was looking at her and just smiled at his antics.

After they had completed their tasks, they sat on the couch in silence while drinking hot chocolate. After a while, Cynthia finally broke the silence,

"Not going to say goodbye or anything, Rudra?"

"No. What's the use of saying goodbye? You are coming back to me after four years anyway."

Cynthia grabbed him and put his head on her lap. She looked at him while moving her hand through his hair and said,

"Don't miss me too much ok. Four years will pass by in no time. Whenever you miss me, remember the promise I made to you years ago, when you had your first match with me. Always remember, I will be by your side Rudra, always."

Rudra smiled at her and she too reciprocated the gesture. She then proceeded to do something that shocked Rudra to his core. She held his face with her hands and lightly pecked him on the lips. He just lay there trying to understand what had happened.

Moments later his brain stopped lagging and finally comprehended what she had done. He turned into a blushing mess and his face started steaming. He kept opening and closing his mouth as if trying to say something but nothing came out of his mouth. Cynthia, a girl of few words as she was, just giggled at him.

After a long time, Rudra was finally able to say something,

"Cynthia,...I.....I...lo-"

But Cynthia shut him by putting her finger on his mouth and said,

"Four years, Rudra, just wait for four years, please. It is already hard enough as it is for me to leave now, please don't make it impossible. Four years later, if you still feel the same way, I will be there, ok?"

Rudra who had been interrupted in the middle of his special moment was somewhat irritated at her at the beginning. He had finally built up the courage and was about to say those magical words to her, but she had interrupted him. But when he heard her speak, his gaze softened, and he understood that if he didn't let go now, she would never be able to have he own adventure and fulfill one of her most important dreams.

So he had to let go. He just nodded and hugged her tightly, trying to spend as much time as he could with her. She too embraced him and her eyes started tearing up a little bit. She firmed herself and just kissed him on his forehead while closing her eyes.

They stayed like that for a long time when Cynthia's grandmother, Prof. Carolina called her out,

"Cynthia, get your luggage and come out! It's time to leave."

They heard her and tidied themselves up a bit. Rudra then helped her get her luggage out of her house. They saw Prof. Carolina, along with all the Professors and the gang of kids waiting for them. All of them then walked towards the mini airport that had been made near the coast.

Along the way, almost all of the villagers bid farewell to her she too nodded and waved back at them. They finally reached the airport and saw a huge Pokémon waiting for them. It was the Shirona clan's official mode of transport, Salamence.

One by one Cynthia hugged and said goodbye to everyone. She hugged Rudra a little bit longer and said,

"Take care, Rudra, and keep training."

Rudra nodded and embraced her too.

Garchomp too embraced Blaziken and kissed him on his cheek which left him in a blushing mess.

She finally took a seat on the Salamence and smiled and waved at them as the Salamence started taking off.

"Come back quickly Cynthia nee-chan you still have to help me train to become a Pokémon Master!!!!!"

"Pikaaaaaaaaa piiiiiiiiiiii!!!!"

Ash and Pikachu shouted at her.

"Yessss Nee-chaaaan, come back quickly!!!!!"

"Moooonfeeeeerrrrrr!"

Luffy and Monferno shouted, agreeing with Ash for the first time.

"We'll defeat you when you get back Cynthia Nee-chan, so remember to train and become stronger to give us a tough fight."

"Quiiiiiillllllll"

"Crooocccccoooo!!!"

Ace shouted as Sabo, Quilava, and Croconaw agreed with him.

"Come back soon Nee-chan!!!"

"Come back soon Nee-chan!!!!"

Gary and May shouted while waving their hands.

Rudra just smiled at everyone and then longingly looked towards Cynthia, he had already started to miss her.

Cynthia waved at everyone and replied,

"I will come back soon everyone!!! Take care and make sure to support me in the conference when I participate!!!"

She then looked towards Rudra, gave him a huge smile, and nodded at him. Rudra too smiled and nodded at her.

The Salamence took off leaving a sonic boom and at that moment Rudra started feeling a little bit empty. It was as if a part of his soul had left him. He made a resolution that he would confess to her when she returned. He would become a strong trainer worthy of her as he had faith that she would return not as Cynthia, but as The Champion of Sinnoh.

Everyone started to leave the airport and he too was about to leave when his hand was held by someone. He looked around and saw May holding his hand with the gag behind her.

"Don't be sad, Rudra. We are here for you. We know we could never replace her but don't worry, we'll make sure that you don't miss her too much." May said as everyone else agreed with her.

Rudra just smiled at them and said,

"You don't need to replace anyone. You are precious to me too you know. Now let's not talk about sad things and start our daily matches, shall we" Rudra said and started walking towards their mini stadium.

May and the others beamed at each other and started running to catchup to him.

They had a long day ahead.

/ Make sure to vote in the previous Chapter: Region Selection/