Cynthia: I Have No Choice

Chapter 337 Cynthia: I Have No Choice

Cynthia pushed open a wooden door on the second floor of the mansion, bent down halfway to peek inside, and was stunned by the view before her. Behind the door was not a small guest room, nor a desk or bed. Instead, there was the setting sun slowly sinking towards the horizon in the distance, splashing pink afterglow onto the boundless Mirror Lake.

A pink salt lake?

The last rays of the setting sun before the sun dips below the horizon are like an innocent girl holding a paintbrush. The white bristles of the brush sweep across the lake, drawing a clear, white line on the romantic surface. Ripples spread across the water, pushing aside the pale pink clouds beneath, and finally, it floats gently to a stop before Cynthia, welcoming her arrival.

Cynthia didn't intend to stay long. If it were more than ten years ago, she might have been attracted by the scene before her, but now she could no longer be called a girl, and her taste had changed. Not all girls like pink.

I really hope that the person in charge of creating this fantasy world will put in a little more effort. If they want to win her favor, they should at least find something she's genuinely interested in, like Wei Xin, instead of relying on arrogant subjective assumptions.

Nemo is still outside, so goodbye.

Cynthia tried to pull the handle but then noticed that the doorknob she was holding had disappeared. Belatedly realizing she had lost her footing, she stumbled forward, turned around, and the wooden door behind her had vanished.

"That's quite a forceful invitation," Cynthia murmured, standing on the empty salt lake.

Looking around, the scenery was repetitive, even the clouds drifting beneath her feet were identical, leaving only her and her reflection in the lake and the sky.

Wearing the same black trench coat as her, she sat on the ground with her knees bent, propping her face up with her hand, gazing at herself with great interest.

Hallucination?

Cynthia, resting her chin on her hand, saw her reflection leaning down, waving and smiling at her in a daze.

The beautiful woman at his feet parted her red lips slightly and politely said, "Hello, Sinnoh Champion, welcome to this world without the concept of space and time."

"Playing tricks!" Cynthia's expression turned stern. She made a quick decision and reached for her waist, only to find it empty. Her partners had all vanished.

As if afraid of startling her, the reflection at Cynthia's feet said softly, "Don't be nervous, Cynthia. This is your dream. Well, not entirely, but I can assure you that I am completely harmless to you. As for the dirty things outside the dream, someone will take care of them. Your companion is safe, and I don't even need to lift a finger—you have a very reliable companion."

The reflection blinked, and when it opened its eyes again, it looked envious and said, "That's wonderful."

From the reflection, Cynthia deduced three pieces of information.

First, Nemo is safe for the time being. Second, the shadow beneath her feet can interfere with reality to some extent. Third, the reflection is unreliable, and she cannot actively extricate herself from the illusion.

Cynthia lowered her head, staring intently at her reflection, wanting to hear what she was going to say.

"Looks like you're willing to listen to me now," the reflection at my feet said, pressing its hand to its chest, lowering its eyes, and letting out a sigh of relief. "I was still thinking about how to explain it to you. After all, I haven't spoken to anyone in a long time. What if I accidentally startled you? It's kind of scary when your own reflection suddenly starts talking. In the stories of Donghuang, it usually represents something bad. In a way, the people of Donghuang seem to be right?"

Cynthia's face was cold. Her reflection seemed to be a chatterbox, with an extremely exaggerated expression, as if she was deliberately mimicking human expressions to prove that she had emotions. However, she was trying too hard, so much so that it didn't match her indifferent face: "You can be a little more concise when you speak."

"Ah, oh, okay," the reflection paused for a moment, looked away, and muttered to itself, "Was I really this quiet before? It feels a bit pretentious."

Cynthia frowned slightly. "Can you at least talk about me in private?"

At first, she was quite interested in this "fake" that was disguised as her reflection, but now, anyone who sees an unscrupulous merchant playing with their own costume, and with such serious OOC (out-of-character) behavior, even turning out of character, would feel displeased, especially since this costumed person is suspected of illegal imprisonment.

It's hardened; its fists have hardened.

The reflection looked up and noticed the expression on Cynthia's face, its eyes widening in surprise, its expression complex: "Did I just blurt out what was on my mind?"

Cynthia stared at her, while the reflection covered her head and sighed, "Oh dear, I've been alone for too long, entertaining myself all day. I can hardly tell my thoughts from my words anymore. Well, okay, enough chit-chat. Let me introduce myself first."

She straightened her chest and patted it, saying, "I, Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion and Historian of Creation Myths, am currently ————"

Cynthia frowned slightly, looking at the person in front of her who looked exactly like herself, and thought to herself, "You are the Sinnoh Champion, then what am I?"

The reflection counted on its fingers: "41, 42, 43, 44, 4 — never mind, let's round it up and say forty years old."

Hearing the reflection claim to be forty years old, Cynthia's expression visibly softened: "You mean I'm forty and still haven't found a partner, then my grandma pressures me to get married, and finally I hid away in a place where nobody can find me, forcing myself into a talkative, neurotic mess?"

A Sinnoh champion reduced to this state? You must be joking.

"How could you think that?" The reflection was startled, straightened its back, and blurted out, "No matter what, I am a regional champion, even though I didn't win the world championship in the end."

"But I wouldn't step into the reverse world for such a trivial reason. Speaking of which, am I actually worried about finding a partner at this point in time? Does a woman's popularity really plummet like a rollercoaster after she turns twenty? Will I end up having to pay to support younger men in the future?"

"If you don't get to the point, I'm leaving!" Cynthia didn't want to continue discussing the relationship issues of young single women with this imposter.

"Tell me now, tell me now," the reflection hurriedly waved. "Let me think about where to start. Actually, I'm not very good at communicating with people. Hmm, let's start with the end of the world."

"The end of the world?"

"Yes, the end of the world." The reflection snapped its fingers, and the water mirror beneath Cynthia's feet suddenly shattered. Her foothold disappeared, and she fell into the water, taking advantage of the weightlessness. She then suddenly looked up and emerged from the pale pink surface of the water.

The splashing water reflected the shattered city. Pink crystals hung from the walls of tall buildings and distant mountains. Pale pink mist rose from the crystal surfaces, spreading in the air. As they collided and touched each other, they rose in layers. Pink clouds drifted in the sky, extending outward in circles, blotting out the sun. There was also a suffocating screech coming from the far distance. The scene before my eyes was no longer romantic; everything exuded a deathly eeriness.

If this were an artist's masterpiece, Hirona would definitely question the artist's mental state during the creation process. But then she thought, perhaps this contrast was exactly the effect the artist wanted. She admitted that she was startled.

"Lifeless, hopeless, just like the Third Impact, isn't it?" The reflection sitting next to Cynthia raised an eyebrow and asked.

"What is the Third Impact?" Cynthia turned her head to look at her other self, looking puzzled.

"Simply put, it's a massive catastrophe that wiped out the vast majority of life on land," the reflection explained, then turned surprised and questioned, "You don't know about the Second Impact? Haven't you seen 'Neon Genesis Pokémon Warriors'? That's a world-class anime. Does that mean your Wei Xin hasn't gone to Galar to make animation and help develop Galar's entertainment economy?"

"No?" Cynthia shook her head. Although she didn't know why the reflection knew about Wei Xin, she still said, "He is currently in Donghuang preparing to participate in the Donghuang Conference."

"That's alright then. It seems something happened in your timeline that prevented him from running off to Galar with his girlfriend," the reflection's expression calmed. "The Eastern Empire Tournament hasn't even started yet, so we still have plenty of time to completely rewrite the world's ending."

"Will the Eastern Empire Conference lead to the destruction of the world?" Cynthia put aside the questions about Wei Xin and his Galar girlfriend, deciding to ask him about them later. Right now, there were more important matters to attend to. With a serious expression, she asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that these pink crystals spread from Donghuang, but the exact time and reason are unknown," the reflection said with a wry smile. "But that doesn't matter. I've found a way to completely save the world. Do you have time to go to Donghuang now? Go find Wei Xin. We need to borrow something from his mind, or rather, a Pokémon."

"In fact, I am in Donghuang right now, and I live right next to Wei Xin's house."

"What are you going to Donghuang for?" Reflection grabbed his head and ruffled his blond hair, puzzled. Then, as if he had figured something out, he slapped his palm.

"I was wondering why I couldn't find you. You actually went to Donghuang. I should have thought of it. Knowledge, emotion, and will are the three elements that constitute the world. They attract each other. Now that your emotions are hidden, will will guide you to seek knowledge. Or perhaps my will has influenced you to some extent?"

"Knowledge, emotion, will—you mean the three legendary Pokémon, Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf?" Unable to escape the illusion, Cynthia tried to glean more information from the reflection.

But she was already starting to doubt the identity of the person in front of her. As far as she knew, there were no more than one person in the world who understood and could use the creation myth. There shouldn't be anyone who would come here to cosplay and play themselves, except for Wei Xin.

According to the interpretation of the creation myth, Arceus created the world, created the world's first Pokémon Mew, created the two gods of time and space who control the world and space, and finally created three Pokémon that govern knowledge, emotion, and will, thereby evolving and developing everything in the world.

Knowledge, emotion, and will influence each other; when any one of them is harmed, the other two will appear to offer help.

"Yes, according to the information, the significance of the three legendary Pokémon goes beyond that. They are the pillars of the world, the engraved knowledge is the blueprint of the world, the flowing emotions provide the driving force for the world's progress, and the firm will guides the direction of the world."

"As long as you possess the power of these three Pokémon, and supplement it with sufficiently powerful forces, such as Palkia, Dialga, or even—"

As Cynthia's reflection spoke, it raised its eyelids, and crimson light flickered in its gray eyes, extending from its pupils and spreading outwards.

As if summoned, the sound of flapping wings came from below the salt lake. Cynthia sensed a tyrannical aura as a gray dragon roared from the far distance below, flapping its black, tattered wings, rising from the depths of the water mirror, soaring upwards, and hovering in the sky above Cynthia's head, roaring with its head raised.

"Giratina?" Cynthia's voice trembled. Fear usually stems from the unknown, but this time was different; she knew this Pokémon too well.

"Yes, the reflection of Arceus, the ruler of the reversed world, the dragon known as Hades, Giratina—if we combine their power, it's not unfounded to think that we could rewrite the world from scratch."

Giratina landed in front of its reflection.

Cynthia's expression turned serious: "You intend to use Giratina's power? Don't you know why Giratina was banished to the Distortion World?"

Instead of believing Giratina will save the world, it's better to believe Garchomp will get a new Mega Evolution and learn Dragon Dance along the way.

“Because of its tyranny, I know,” the reflection nodded, “so I found an assistant to help me suppress Giratina’s ferocity.”

She snapped her fingers, and a blue-headed, fairy-like Pokémon emerged from behind her, flicking its two ruby-inlaid tails and waving a friendly wave at Cynthia.

"Ak~"

The Pokémon that appeared before Cynthia was clearly one of the three legendary Pokémon, representing the will of the Pokémon.

"Akron?"

"That's right. With its help, I don't have to worry about being affected by Giratina. In fact, I can even control it instead." The reflection lifted its leg with its hands behind its back, its toes touching the void, stepping on invisible steps in Cynthia's eyes.

She is like a stunningly beautiful duchess living alone in a secluded castle.

Her black trench coat began to burn, transforming into a long black and red dress with gold trim at the joints. Red wings spread behind her shoulders, and she tilted her head back. A black and gold bat-shaped crown emerged from her hair, and she shook her head, revealing an exquisite black veil.

Finally, she touched the top of Giratina's head with her toes, turned around, supported her slender waist, raised her chin, and looked down proudly at everything on the ground. Without a doubt, the reflection in front of her was Cynthia herself, the mysterious trainer who rode Giratina.

Even Dialga and Palkia may have fallen into her hands.

"After that, once I find Uxie and Memredo, I will be able to use their power, along with vast space and infinite time, to create a new world, a world that has erased all destructive factors and escaped inevitable destruction, once and for all." The reflection smiled and reached out to Cynthia.

"So, lend me a hand and let me send you to a perfect world where everyone will be happy this time."

The scene before her reminded Cynthia of listening to other mentors lecturing their students in the office: "If you don't work hard now, you'll definitely regret it in the future."

The student glanced at his watch and the clock in the office, asking the teacher to wait a minute. After the second hand of the clock on the wall had completed a full rotation, nothing happened in the office.

He said, "If I really regret it in the future, I will definitely try my best to create a time machine and slap my present self. I didn't, which means that I don't regret it enough in the future."

Although the student wasn't slapped across the face by his future self, he was severely beaten by his tutor with the exam papers on the table. Time machine, huh? Not enough regret, huh? Wasting everyone's minute, huh? He finished shouting rhythmically, clearly genuinely regretting it.

But the current situation is just as that student said: his future self traveled through time and found his present self.

As if drawn by some unseen force, Cynthia reached out her hand to the reflection. She saw a joyful smile on the reflection's face, devoid of any malice, only the hope of an athlete nearing the end of a long marathon.

Without a doubt, I am here to save the world.

If, as she herself said, the world will be destroyed in the future, then her choice may be the right one. But just before she made contact, she suddenly thought of a face.

A young and handsome face.

The reason Wei Xin kept this from her and didn't let her get involved was because he had already anticipated this situation. She complained to herself, "Really, if he had explained it to me earlier, I would have stayed home and eaten some snacks."

If Wei Xin were here, what would he do? Punch himself in the face and then send him flying back to where he came from?

Cynthia grabbed her wrist and took a step back. She couldn't bring herself to punch herself; this face was just too beautiful. Wei Xin had praised it, saying it was a magnificent face. She couldn't bear to, so she could only grit her teeth and smile: "I'm sorry, I need to discuss the feasibility of this with Wei Xin."

The reflection's expression froze instantly: "You mean, as an authority on creation myths, you'd actually consult a completely unknown student in your own field? Cynthia, when did you become so cowardly? Where is your pride as a champion?"

"That's irrelevant," Cynthia said, taking another step back.

"I simply chose to trust my comrade. He's more professional than me at saving the world. Besides, you haven't told me what the inhabitants of the old world will encounter during the creation of the new world. Will they disappear?"

"Of course not," the reflection said frankly. "I will use the original memories and blueprint to put everyone into the new world, but I will filter out those with serious hidden dangers. I will ensure that the world runs normally, forever."

"Forget it," Cynthia tried to muster her will and break free from the dream, but to no avail; her "will" had already been conquered by her reflection.

Driven to the brink of despair, and facing the dreadful pressure, she smiled and said, "We can discuss the philosophical questions at another time, but I have other things to do right now. The academic discussion is over, and I've already heard the bell ring. Can you let me out? I don't like going overtime."

Clearly, the reflection couldn't agree to her request. Seeing that she was being rejected, the reflection sighed helplessly: "Then there's only one last method left. Although your sudden trip to Donghuang ahead of schedule caused a slight time discrepancy, as long as the final result is correct, the rest is just a minor error. I need to borrow your body for a while, and I'll return it to you later."

She raised her foot and placed it on Giratina's head. The giant beast beneath her stood proudly, flapped its wings, and leaped down towards Cynthia on the ground.

As the majestic beast charged towards her, and her consciousness was suppressed, Cynthia smiled. She was about to cause him trouble. Perhaps she should ask him what he liked later as an apology.

Cynthia closed her eyes, feeling the connection with her body. She moved her fingers twice to confirm that she could move normally. Lucario, who was guarding in front of her, made a sound. Cynthia opened her eyes, her expression joyful: "Lucario, it's been so long!"

She suddenly cupped Lucario's face in her hands, angrily rubbed his head, and finally hugged him tightly.

"Huh?"

Lucario's eyes widened in disbelief. The trainer had been possessed, but Lucario, whose body clearly belonged to the trainer and whose head organs had been swung like helicopter propellers, gave up resisting.

As long as you're happy.

Nemo, sensing the commotion, quickly put away the rainbow feather in her hand and ran to Cynthia: "Miss Cynthia?"

Cynthia tilted her head, staring at the anxious Nemo, then released Lucario from her arms, opened her mouth, and stammered, "Little Nemo!"

She grabbed Nemo's hand, pulled her into her arms, pressed her face against Nemo's hair, and let her hands roam over Nemo's hair and face, greedily inhaling the scent of a stranger.

A soft touch came across her face; the sudden application of face wash caught Nemo off guard. Her face flushed, and she struggled for a moment, but Cynthia was stronger than her. Nemo, the sports idiot, eventually chose to give up and do whatever made her happy.

The harmonious scene before her eyes almost brought Gastly to tears. Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, she thought to herself, "Big sister, you're finally awake. If you hadn't woken up, I might have been the next one who didn't wake up."

Ever since Nemo awoke, she has been wielding the Rainbow Feather and whipping him with intense heat. Garchomp even has a scythe hanging on his head, its expression solemn.

If anything happens to your trainer, I'll chop you into three pieces.

No matter how Gastly explains it, he only hypnotized Nemo. I don't know why Cynthia fell asleep either. It's all the same. He just wanted to have a meal and really didn't intend to hurt anyone.

Cynthia stroked Nemo for a while, then released her hand with satisfaction. Nemo tidied her hair, which Cynthia had ruffled, and asked with concern, "Miss Cynthia, did you have a nightmare just now?"

Cynthia stared with her mouth agape for a long time before looking away, lowering her eyes, and saying, "Yeah, I had a really scary nightmare, but it's okay."

Nemo couldn't imagine a dream that could frighten even the Sinnoh champion.

Cynthia stood up, walked to Garchomp's side, affectionately hugged Garchomp's neck, and rubbed Garchomp's head. Garchomp gently placed its hands on the outside of Cynthia's shoulders, with a smile on its face.

"From now on, those terrible nightmares will never happen again," Cynthia murmured softly, turning to look at Nemo. "We need to work hard from now on. What should we do next?"

Although Cynthia seemed a little off, perhaps a bit too cheerful, Lucario didn't say anything, and Nemo didn't seem to care. Cynthia was still Cynthia. She pointed to the stairs: "Go find Rotom. According to Gastly's testimony, he should be in the room on the second floor."

"Okay, let's go."

Cynthia stomped her feet twice, making a dull thud, and her smile deepened as she pulled a book from the bookshelf beside her.

Holding onto the cobweb-covered stair railing, Nemo followed Cynthia up the stairs. The two reached the door of a room on the second floor. The wooden door, riddled with wormholes, hung in the doorway. Cynthia gently poked it, and the door cracked open, turning into a pile of sawdust.

Sensing the movement, a metal box in the room shook, and the rusty iron chains struck the box with a crisp sound. Cynthia and Nemo walked over to the metal box.

"Garuda, cleave! Be careful not to hurt Rotom."

Garchomp roared, raised its arm, and gently pressed the bone spikes at the tip of its scythe against the surface of the iron box. Pulling it backward, the iron box was split in two like butter being cleaved by a hot knife, and rolled up. Garchomp tore the iron box open with both hands, and the thick iron sheet rolled up under its claws.

The creature inside lunged at Cynthia's face. Lucario reacted quickly, grabbing the creature's wings, but to no avail. The creature was made of plasma and crackled with electricity. Cynthia opened the book and faced the plasma creature that had appeared.

Snapped.

Amidst the dust that rose from the room, the creature was imprisoned by Cynthia in the cage of knowledge.

"There's actually a solution like this? No wonder she's Miss Cynthia," Nemo exclaimed from the side.

Rotom struggled to pop his head out of the book, eyes closed, tugging at his trapped arm. His plasma body stretched like a rubber band as he roared, "Let go! I'm going to find Little Red! You damned Mediterranean dwarf potato! I'd rather die than obey your orders!!!! Rotom will never be a slave!! Rotom!"

"Why don't you open your eyes and take a look?" Cynthia said helplessly. "There aren't any fat, lecherous research-type Dream Eaters here, only two beautiful young girls in their prime, and who is Little Red?"

"It might be the Crimson Sun," Nemo added.

"Red—" Cynthia was stunned for a moment. When she thought of Red Sun's distinct features, like the face that Arceus had carved a few extra strokes when he was in a bad mood, she couldn't help but laugh. Her cheeks puffed out. She thought to herself, "Red Sun, you with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you actually have such a cute nickname?"

Upon hearing the name Chi Ri, Rotom froze, opening his eyes to look at the two people in front of him: "Do you know Little Chi Ri, Rotom?"

"I know him." Nemo took out her Rotom phone and showed the photo to Rotom. "He's still busy right now. We're here on his behalf to find you."

Although time had left many marks on Chi Ri, his face remained unyielding, as if even a wing attack couldn't penetrate it. Rotom recognized the person in the photo at a glance—his childhood friend. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he began to wail loudly at the photo: "I've been waiting for you here for so long! Why didn't you come to find me? You big idiot, Chi Ri!"

"Ghostly~" At this scene, Ghostly, whose hands were tied with rope and held in Nemo's hand like a balloon, couldn't help but shed tears. It grabbed a white handkerchief that appeared out of nowhere, wiped the tears from the corners of its eyes, and blew its nose.

What a pair of star-crossed lovers—seemingly sensing Gastly's thoughts, Lucario glanced at Gastly, aimed at its mouth, reached out, and grabbed the purple plastic bag.

I don't know about the beginning, I don't know about the middle, I don't know about the end, so just shut up.

What should have been a heartwarming escape turned into a completely different story when Cynthia saw the humanoid Gyarados in the photo and its adorable nickname. She couldn't feel anything at all.

I even felt like laughing.

Men really do like contrasts.

She took out a Poké Ball: "Alright, it's getting late, I'll take you back to see your friends."

“Not friends,” Rotom slid out of the book, hovering in the air with his hands on his hips, “but best of friends.”

With a proud tone, it burrowed into the Poké Ball in Cynthia's hand. Just as Cynthia was about to put the ball in her pocket, Rotom jumped out again: "Wait a minute, Rotom! Rotom has something to take with him, but it's broken and can't move. Can you help me carry it? It's in the metal box, Rotom."

"Okay." Cynthia responded, walked to the metal box, picked up the robot toy lying inside. Because of the long time that had passed, rust had spread to the surface of the metal and the exposed joints, all the way to the inside. Only the chest and back had marks that were exactly the same as Rotom's arms.

Cynthia placed the robot in front of Rotom, who hugged it tightly to his chest, his arms fitting snugly against the metal. Just as he had spent the past decades in a dark, sunless metal box, clutching a rusty tin toy, year after year, waiting for someone he trusted to open the box and take him away. On this moonlit night, the day had finally come to an end.

Cynthia smiled with relief and gentleness: "Alright, let's go back. Wei Xin is still waiting for us."

After everyone left, the evening breeze of the forest stirred the decaying curtains, and the cold moonlight shone through the broken windowpanes into the deathly silent room, landing on the empty iron box. Inside the metal box, countless vertical scratches formed a black wall, and more than twenty years of despair were finally able to see the light of day again.

It will also receive its due salvation in the near future.

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