Title: Money
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Pairing: None
Fandom: Pokémon
Theme: #28, Money
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Warnings: Fanon references, friendship unless you squint

He pulled his knees close to his chest, trying hard not to think of the heavy weight around his neck or the way his father’s fingers curved around the strand of cowrie shells. It was unjust, and he knew it, but debt had weighed heavily on their family farm and now, he sat in a corner of the dusty, dank room, listening to the cries of the other children and young adults.

He wanted to go home…

He wanted to forget this was happening. Why had his Father and Mother done this? Why…?

Was he that worthless?

Steps sounded, and a sudden bright light intruded on their cells. He glanced over, seeing the slave trader, squat and bearded, escorting a visitor down the stairs. Sweat glistened over his toned muscles as he talked in a wheedling voice.

“Oh yes, your lordship, the younger ones are here… you have excellent taste…”

The other man was hooded and veiled in stark white, gleaming in the darkness like a pale moon. Only his eyes showed, a brilliant shade of gold.

He stopped, inspecting them with a casual glance, before his eyes settled.

Red shivered as those orbs fixed upon him.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Of course, your lordship.” The man untied him from the ring in the wall with an oily smile. “Any others?”

“They are not to my liking.” The man said quietly, but Red sensed veiled menace, even as the manacles fastened around his wrists. He obediently took his place behind his new owner.

Anything was better than that oppressive darkness. At least now he’d be able to move! The manacles weren’t as bad as being bound to a wall, and even the leash didn’t bother him too much as he was led out of the cellar. The man placed a heavy bag bulging with brightly polished gems in front of the slave trader, who was practically salivating.

“For you trouble.” He said, and then walked off briskly. Red struggled to keep up, his legs unused to movement after several days of immobility.

For many long moments, they did not speak; but finally, they reached a gleaming white building. The man beckoned Red inside, so he followed. The heavy oaken doors slide shut behind them, as Red swallowed nervously.

What was going to happen to him?

“I heard Giovanni fell on hard times, but this is ridiculous.” The man said.

“You know my Father?” Red gaped.

“Of course I do.” He said, before he removed his hood. Red’s eyes lit up brightly.

“Lance! I didn’t know you were back from Johto!”

“Yes, well, I did quite well there.” Lance shrugged elegantly. “But the question is, do you want to go home?”

Red hesitated. He would have said yes, but knowing that his Father would probably sell him again if he needed money was very discouraging.

“I’m not sure…” He said hesitantly.

“I suspected as much. Well, you’re welcome to stay with me for the time being.” He bent down as he murmured a few words underneath his breath. Instantly, white flame lit on his fingertips and Red’s manacles melted away. Then when he touched the collar it did the same.

Red gaped at Lance. “You learned mage-craft while you were gone?”

“Of a sort.” The man agreed. “Food and a bath next, I suppose?”

Red nodded. Lance pointed him to the bathing chambers, and when he had finished washing himself and had dressed in a loose robe and was sitting next to Lance, eating bread spread thickly with strawberry jam and sweet honey, he felt a lot better.

Lance said little, though they way he was watching him made Red slightly unnerved. Of course, it had been several years since they had seen each other, but still!

It seemed that Lance really had grown up…

“So, what’s been happening while I was gone?”

Red shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. It’s been a drought for three years. I guess we finally ran out of money this year.”

Lance nodded, helping himself to a pomegranate. Red watched as he ate it delicately, slice by slice. Lance was wearing nail guards; sharp silver ones that acted like miniature blades. After he had finished, he excused himself.

Those robes looked good on him though, and the tiny bells in his hair and on his wrists and ankles tinkled softly. They looked like they were made of silver.

Red blushed, not liking where his thoughts were heading. He and Lance were just friends! And Lance had saved his life, or at least his virginity, and now, things could go back to normal. In a few days the stress would wear off and everything would be fine. Just fine…

He nodded as he finished eating.

< If you take this boy, > Lugia’s voice rumbled in his mind, < You will lose my magic. I shall strip the gift from those I deem unworthy. >

< I know. > Lance replied. < I am not planning to do such a thing. >

< Make certain that you adhere to my commandments. >

Lance inclined his head, feeling white energy pulse in his heart. Nonsense. He and Red were friends and friends only, and as a Dragon-mage, he had a vow of chastity to keep. The idea of breaking it was laughable.

Lugia-sama could rest content on that matter…

No foolish mortal was worth the loss of power.

Several days passed. Red recovered surprisingly quickly, and Lance smiled as he watched the boy fondly. He was strong – he would make an excellent mage if trained. His eyes recognized the spark of power in Red’s soul that could be coaxed into mage-fire… but he said nothing, content to let Red live his own life.

He hardly begrudged Red the basic necessities. He could create gold if he wished to, but he preferred not. Instead, he wove power into song and silence, and hid his status as Dragon-Mage.

It was too tedious to show off, after all.

Red wondered about Lance. Save for when he ate, the man kept his face and body covered. He wondered if it were a requirement of the mage class and shook his head.

No, he would never become a mage. He would have been a farmer, if things had gone differently so why was he wishing?

Wishing was for fools.

“It is too dangerous.” Lance whispered, as the other nodded, her golden eyes a mirror of his, though her robes were a warm orange-red, instead of stark white. “It is safer if he never knows.”

“And you will lose nothing.” She replied.

His lips curved up in a half-smile. “It is better this way. You know it as well as I.”

“Will you miss him?”

“Perhaps,” Lance agreed, slightly wistful. “But at least, no one needs to die.”

And Charlotte agreed.

End Fic

Completed 1/13/07

Edited 10/5/09

Money is the set of assets in an economy that people regularly use to buy goods and services from other people. It doesn’t have to be gold coins or paper or anything, heck, Island of Yap rocks work and so do beads, cowrie shells, stuff like that…

Commodity Money is money that takes the form of a commodity with intrinsic value, like gold or cigarettes. Fiat Money is money that has value because the government decrees it. Needless to say, fiat money doesn’t work well in an unstable economy or when there is hyperinflation. (Brief Principles of Macroeconomics, 4^th Edition by N. Gregory Mankiw)