In the end, Heath went down with Cynthia after all. It was not that he planned to do anything, but Cynthia was clearly very interested in visiting the market, so she walked into it with him in an outfit that looked extremely expensive. For a moment, Heath felt as though every eye in the market was on him. After all, Cynthia was standing right beside him, an absolute beauty in very lavish clothes, which made for a rather strange sight.
If he had to describe it, it was probably like having someone turn up in a Kamen Rider costume amid a crowd of uniformed students at a middle school's Monday flag-raising ceremony, then strike a pose. Cool as it might look, it was bound to draw attention.
"Wait... I mean, Miss Cynthia, have you never been to a market in the Sinnoh Region?" Heath asked helplessly as he looked at Cynthia beside him. Only then did he notice that she was somewhat shorter than him, reaching just to his shoulder. Even so, the girl was trying hard to stand on tiptoe to make herself taller. Heath found her rather cute for some reason.
"Nope. Back in the Sinnoh Region, whenever I got hungry, I'd just eat sandwiches or some convenience food," Cynthia said, looking around curiously. She was not teasing Heath; that really was how things had been. After setting out on her journey, what Cynthia had enjoyed most was finding different Trainers to battle, honing her Pokémon and her battling skills. Yet somehow, battle after battle, she had fought her way into the Champion's seat. It had been utterly unexpected.
The corner of Heath's mouth twitched. That really did fit Cynthia's personality. Still, seeing how happy she was, he said nothing more and turned to picking out the ingredients