Cynthia Before She Came of Age

The girl of his dreams had finally appeared. Xu Mu was beside himself with excitement and broke into a run, heading deeper into the forest.

Ahead lay a river that wasn't particularly clear. If he wasn't mistaken, the girl had fallen in.

Following the sound of her voice, Xu Mu hurried downstream.

There she was!

Less than a hundred meters later, Xu Mu spotted her struggling in the water.

She clutched a crying Gible tightly to her chest and screamed for help.

"Is anyone there? Help... Ugh, help me!"

Xu Mu didn't hesitate. He hadn't seen her face clearly, but after years of experience as a shameless admirer of pretty girls, he could tell she was gorgeous!

There was nothing to think about. He had to save her!

"Greninja, follow me!"

The truth was, Xu Mu couldn't swim either. Having grown up in the north, he was hopeless in the water.

Luckily, Greninja was there. Otherwise, he and this girl whose face he hadn't even seen would have gone to the great beyond together.

"Greninja?"

Why jump in when you can't swim? Are you trying to make things worse?

Xu Mu splashed around twice after hitting the water, then promptly began to sink. Greninja was speechless.

Wow. You really are something else!

Standing on the bank, Greninja used Surf to take control of the river's water, then leaped in and hauled Xu Mu and the girl ashore.

Back on land, the girl opened her mouth to speak, only to break into a fit of coughing.

Xu Mu stole a glance at her stomach and thought, She really swallowed a lot of water!

He patted her back, then took a closer look at her.

She had long golden hair. Though it was soaked, he could tell it would look amazing when dry!

After admiring her hair, Xu Mu lowered his gaze and began looking her over from the bottom up.

Sneakers, skinny jeans—a perfectly ordinary outfit for the outdoors.

Over a light-colored shirt, she wore a black jacket. The shape beneath that shirt looked rather impressive...

When he looked up again, Xu Mu rubbed his nose awkwardly.

At some point, the girl had stopped coughing. She was watching him with a puzzled expression, clearly wondering what he was doing.

"Ahem. Just checking how you're doing. Are you all right?"

After a dry cough, Xu Mu asked the obvious.

"I'm fine now. Thank you for saving Gible and me."

Still weak, she forced herself to sit up and thank him.

But the moment their eyes met, Xu Mu froze!

This... this, this...

No way!

I hit the jackpot!

She isn't just some pretty girl. She's Cynthia!

Holy crap!

What's going on? Cynthia exists in this world too?

Xu Mu stood there, dumbstruck and unable to say a word.

The girl—Cynthia—turned to Greninja in confusion at the sight of him.

"Greninja!"

Greninja quickly waved its hands, indicating that it had no idea what was going on either.

"Hello?"

Cynthia waved a hand in front of Xu Mu's eyes, trying to draw him back to the present.

"Ah, sorry. My mind wandered for a second."

Coming back to his senses, Xu Mu still couldn't believe that the girl before him was Cynthia, the famous Sinnoh Champion from the original story.

He studied her features. Apart from her age, she looked just like the Cynthia he remembered, though she seemed a little young and lacked that commanding presence.

Everything else—every expression, every smile—was exactly the same!

"I'm Xu Mu. And you're..."

"I'm Cynthia, from the Western Europe Continent."

Cynthia answered promptly when he introduced himself, a faint smile unconsciously appearing on her lips.

The moment Xu Mu saw her smile, he knew he was a goner.

"So how did you end up here alone?"

Xu Mu rummaged through his backpack and pulled out a towel and a jacket.

Cynthia watched him bustle about with some embarrassment. Her backpack had been swept away when she fell into the river.

"I'm traveling. I heard a new Secret Realm had opened in the Eastern Lands, so I came to take a look."

The Eastern Lands, the Western Europe Continent, and the Northern and Southern Poles made up the broad geography of this world.

Cynthia's being from Western Europe didn't surprise Xu Mu.

After all, where in the Eastern Lands would he find a golden-haired beauty like her?

"Traveling? All by yourself?"

Xu Mu placed the towel on Cynthia's head and handed her the jacket, then gave her a surprised look.

"That's right. I've already been admitted early to your Eastern Academy. I can enroll next year."

"So I thought I'd spend this year traveling through the Eastern Lands and seeing the beautiful scenery."

As Cynthia spoke, Xu Mu's eyes gradually lit up.

Perfect!

We're kindred spirits! See? This is what having something in common looks like!

Cynthia and I really are made for each other!

"What about you?"

Cynthia took off her still-dripping jacket, put on the one Xu Mu had given her, and began drying her hair.

When she asked about him, Xu Mu couldn't help smiling.

"I'm in a similar situation, though I didn't get admitted early. My school gave me a year off, and I'll go back for the unified exam next year."

Cynthia looked pleasantly surprised too.

She stopped drying her hair and quickly asked, "So you're traveling alone as well?"

Xu Mu nodded. "That's right. Seems like fate brought us together."

Xu Mu found a natural hollow in a tree and had Greninja drive out the Scyther living inside. Then he led Cynthia in.

"Charmander, let me borrow your tail for a moment."

With an armful of dry firewood and branches, Xu Mu used the flame on Charmander's tail to light a campfire.

"I'll wait outside while you change. You'll get sick if you stay in those wet clothes."

Finally, Xu Mu set up a rack beside the campfire and gave Cynthia a spare set of clothes before leaving the hollow.

Outside, Xu Mu took a deep breath.

If only I had a cigarette. I could use one to calm down...

I never expected the girl the system predicted was meant for me to be Cynthia before she'd even grown up!

As a gaming expert in his previous life, Xu Mu naturally knew Cynthia well.

Her commanding aura as the Sinnoh Champion, and the contrast with her usual adorably absent-minded self, had won her countless fans.

Xu Mu was one of them.

Interesting. I've met Cynthia before she developed that overwhelming presence.

Wait. If she hasn't developed it yet, does that mean she's only adorably absent-minded right now?

Holy crap, I hit the jackpot!