Title: Not Atlantis
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Red)
Fandom: Pokémon
Theme: #6, Sacrifice
Rating: PG-13
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

Somewhat Stargate SG-1 verse…

Warnings: AU, fanon, Angst, Character Death, het

When Red became Champion of the Kanto League, he never expected to be fighting aliens. Deoxys were supposedly created from space viruses that had received severe radiation upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, but whatever they were, they were dangerous! The Pokédex entry said something about a laser beam. Red personally blamed Team Rocket. He was sure that this was some other nefarious plan the Team had contacted in their attempt to take over Kanto.

Of course, the knowledge could not go public. Only a few Councilmen of the Kanto Governing Council knew of the threat, along with the Elite Four and Professor Oak. After all, they were the Earth’s first and only line of defense.

“Red,” Lance asked, snapping him out of his trance. “It’s time to go.”

“All right,” He sighed, as he readied his Poke Balls and weapons. The suit he wore was an ugly shade of orange, terrible for camouflage, but guaranteed to protect him from any hazardous materials they might encounter on their trip.

Lance, Lorelei, and Agatha were already waiting. Bruno would not be coming along on this trip – he was busy running interference, to try and hide the upcoming space battle from the civilians and the rest of the world. Surprisingly, he was rather good at it.

“Are you ready?” Agatha asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” He snipped.

Lorelei leaned over and ruffled his hair. “It will be fine.”

“Bit too optimistic, aren’t you?” Red shot back.

She shrugged. “Well, Earth is doomed if we just sit here, so if we die, we might as well die well.”

“Such has always been the motto of the Elite.”

Red grinned. “And the Champion would be a coward to stay behind. Let’s go!”

With that, the four members moved quietly into their spaceship. It was a tiny thing, that barely fit the four of them, but it was fast, and it would hopefully get them to their location quickly.

They had found the hieroglyphics carved in the bottom of the Sea cave, where Kyogre lived. It spoke of a great weapon that could be used to defeat the Deoxys.

Somehow, Red did not think it spoke of Pokémon.

Certainly, Deoxys might count as the same type of magical creature as a pokémon, but they were much more dangerous – and deadly. And they were creatures primed to kill and nothing else. Their shape-shifting abilities made them a deadly foe.

They would need some other… creature? Perhaps it was a legendary Pokemon more powerful than Deoxys.

Team Rocket had willingly volunteered Mewtwo, knowing that if all of Earth’s population was wiped out, they would have nothing to take over, but Mewtwo had fallen in battle, and received an honorable burial that was no comfort to anyone.

“Moping won’t help, you know.” Lance said, sitting next to him.

Red sighed and turned around, before she got the message and pulled him into a hug. “Shh…”

“What if we don’t make it in time, Lance-chan? The Deoxys multiply so fast…”

“I know.” She whispered. “I know.”

“I’m frightened…”

“No one expects you to be brave. We are all scared.”

“But you hide it so well!”

“We have more experience, Red. We’re older than you are.”

Red could not argue that point, but still, the tears ran down his cheeks. “I did not even say good-bye to Mom before I left… what if I never see her again?”

“Shh. Those negative thoughts won’t help either.” Lance reassured Red. “Now hush. We’ll be approaching our destination in a few hours. Perhaps you should get some sleep while you can.”

Red wiped at his tears and nodded. It would be cowardly, because if Deoxys did wipe out earth, well…

The Elite would be able to run for a short time, assuming the food supplies on this ship held out, along with the air filters, but only for a week or so.

What use would prolonging life be then?

There would be no home to return to, and his conscience would grind him down until he suffocated in guilt.

He decided to take Lance’s advice and go to sleep.

Meanwhile, Lorelei and Agatha were also chatting.

“Mother…”

“I know, Lorelei. I know.” Agatha shook her head. “I am not a Ghost Master for nothing you know.”

“Why does it have to be this way?”

“We are making this sacrifice for our Earth, of course, dear heart. I am only an old woman.”

“But to not tell Lance about this…”

“The Dragon Master would try to stop me, and though I appreciate her sentiments, Earth needs her more than it needs an old woman whose time is nearing the end anyway.” Agatha smiled. “Do not cry for me, daughter.”

Lorelei hugged her adoptive mother, and then said nothing more, trying to still her beating heart and calm her breathing.

They had to keep this plan hidden…

After a few minutes of hugging Dewgong she was sufficiently dry-eyed and cool-cheeked to approach the others.

Lance was glancing at the navigation computer with a frown. “Something seems wrong, Lorelei. Could you get Agatha?”

“Of course,” Agatha returned, as she pointed to the coordinates on the screen.

“There’s nothing there – it’s like empty space… and our scanners don’t detect any life readings or energy readings.”

“Are you saying I translated the markings wrong?” Lorelei demanded, feeling irritation pooling behind her eyeballs.

“No, not that,” Their Leader shivered. “What if the star has collapsed? What if it’s nothing… what if there’s only a black hole now?”

“Are we feeling any gravitational tug?”

She shook her head. “Not yet…”

“Let’s keep going. Perhaps it’s just shielded by superior technology.”

“Perhaps,” She did not sound convinced, but there was nothing else to do. They drifted closer.

Hours passed in silence, and still nothing happened. All of them were feeling edgy now, even Red, who had just woken up from sleep but was now holding his light-blade warily.

The pull came without warning, and they had no time to escape before what seemed like tendrils lashed out from the pit of emptiness, dragging them inside…

And then everything went dark.

Red woke up, finding himself in a small patch of reddish light. Everything else around him was dark.

“Lance? Agatha? Lorelei? Are you there?” He called.

No sound, friend or foe, sounded in return.

He lit his light-sword, watching the blade crackle with five bolts of red light. Flipping open the pocket that held his compass, he held it out.

There was nothing. The needle spun crazily in circles, giving him no sense of direction.

Red sighed, but was loath to remove his breathing mask or release his Pokémon, as he was not sure if there was any air around.

At least his ears weren’t popping, so there had to be some kind of gravity. He started off in a random direction, before he soon spotted something that stopped him in his tracks.

“Lance!” He rushed over to his fallen friend’s side. Lance looked quite dead, as her eyes were staring at nothing. Red noticed what looked like black protruding from her friend’s chest, and shone his light source closer to get another look.

Pity he didn’t notice the crawling creatures behind him until they pounced.

Meanwhile…

Lane groaned as she woke. Where was there ship? And why was she not still inside of it? Had the black hole torn it apart?

She sighed as she focused her eyes, trying to see. She saw nothing, and so, she drew her flashlight from her belt and lit it. Not two feet away, Red lay facedown. A quick check at their oxygen tanks told them that they had barely two hours of air left.

How long had she been unconscious?

She stared at Red’s prone form, but felt strangely empty. How odd. When the person one was secretly in love with died, shouldn’t one feel worse?

Unless…

Unless it was a trap, and this was not Red.

She growled softly, and released Hakuryuu, who blasted the corpse with a brilliant burst of Hyper Beam. The gloom lit up, revealing more around.

Lance’s lips curved up in a vicious smile as she placed her hands on Dragonair’s scales. Her guess was correct.

“Use Dragon Rage…”

All of the creatures were wiped out, and as the air seemed breathable, the two of them flew on, searching for their lost companions.

When Lorelei woke up, she found Agatha next to her, already awake.

“Where are we?”

“I wish I knew. Let’s go try and find the others.” Agatha released Gengar, who could see perfectly fine in the dark and did not need to breathe, being a ghost.

They began to walk along, and when they passed Red – who was really Red, Gengar verified, though he seemed … off, they took him along.

They ran into Lance about ten minutes later, who was riding aboard her Dragonair with a severely ticked off expression on her face.

“Bad day,” She teased.

“It is getting worse.” The redhead replied. “Is that Red?”

“Yes. We found him. I wonder…”

“There are strange things here,” Lance said hesitantly. “Creatures that cast illusions, but they are not very powerful. Dragon Rage took them all out.”

Lorelei rolled her eyes. “Overkill much?” She teased.

“You haven’t seen the ship either?” Agatha asked, more practically.

She shook her head. “There’s nothing. What’s wrong with Red?”

“I don’t know…”

< It seems that there is something inside of him. > Gengar said.

“Inside,” Lance demanded. “But why would he…”

Gengar nodded. < It is possible that he has been infected… after all, the suits do not protect from physical attack. >

Lance had to agree with that assessment, her eyes trailing over several rips and scratches. She almost – almost saw Red, but instead, she held gloved fingers over Red’s body and focused.

Would Viridian answer her call, so far away from home?

She did, and pale blue light streamed over Red’s body. He sighed in his sleep as the wounds closed up, some of them rather severe now that he was granted a better look. Anger flared in Lance’s chest. There had better be a weapon worth obtaining here.

They walked onwards, and soon, Lorelei ran forwards, seeing a line of crystal blue letters seemingly cut into the darkness itself. After a good look, she nodded. “It’s here.”

“I will go first.” Agatha said, and she nodded. It made sense. After all, Gengar would protect her, and if there were any machinery there, the ghosts would be able to disable it quickly without taking damage.

Inside the four of them trooped, and sure enough, found what looked like a blue crystal sphere. Lorelei sprang forwards with an excited cry.

“This is it!”

“It looks so… small.” Red murmured, having awoken, but no one else said a word as Lorelei carefully picked it up.

“Let’s go.”

“What about the directions for use?” Lance asked. “Do we just touch it and activate it that way?”

“Mm, but it has to be done bare-handed, and the atmosphere here is not very good for us or our Pokémon. Let us return quickly.”

As if their mission had been completed, the shuttle quickly reappeared. They wasted no time in confirming its existence, before inputting the coordinates for home.

And so, their ship sped off.

On the way home, Lance was calculating trajectory and if they would make it to Earth in time. With their current speed, they just might. Red was helping Lorelei examine the crystal sphere, shining a flashlight over the surfaces as Lorelei quickly translated and transcribed the instructions.

< Lorelei, is it, as I feared? >

Lorelei gave a single curt nod, which Red missed, as he had just taken a break to look out the view screen at the stars streaking past.

< We were prepared for the worst-case scenario. It will soon be time. >

Lance frowned. Something seemed… off, but she could not tell what. As they broke out of warp speed, the ship tilted, and all of them fell over rather ungracefully. Red made a grab for the sphere, not wanting it to get damaged.

As he touched it, the markings all began to glow and what looked like a stream of bluish butterflies surrounded him. They streaked out through the ship and into space, and within moments, had torn the swarm of enemy Deoxys to ribbons and broken fragments.

All of the assembled stared – Lance in admiration, Lorelei in surprise, and Agatha in horror. That was not what was supposed to have happened!

He teetered for a moment, and then dropped the orb. Lorelei caught it before it hit the ground, and Lance caught him.

“Lance?” Red asked sleepily.

“Shh.” The Dragon Master hissed, already channeling her healing power into the younger boy. “It will be all right. Relax.”

“Did we… do it?”

“We did.” Lance reassured him. “Earth is safe.”

“I’m glad.” Red murmured, and then closed his eyes. Lance smiled, and nodded.

“He will be all right.”

Agatha blinked. “But Lance, what do you mean? And how can you say that? The translation says…”

“I know what the translation says, Agatha. You didn’t really think you could hide it from me forever, did you?”

“But then… he’s going to die…”

“Oh, no doubt about it,” Lance continued cheerfully. “But it won’t be that bad. Watch…” As they watched, Red’s body caught fire, and seemed to burn, until it peeled away and he opened eyes that were now gold. Wings swept behind him, along with a tail and his legs were now sharp talons.

“… Destiny,” Agatha gulped.

Red nodded. “That didn’t hurt as much as I expected.”

“You’d better be careful though,” His friend warned. “The same trick won’t work twice.”

“It would be highly unlikely that we’d have to beat Deoxys again. They are dead. All dead…” He crooned. “They’re part steel, and I trace nothing of their lives now.”

Lance concentrated, sweeping out with her psychic power, and nodded her assent.

“You are correct.”

“So can we start living happily ever after now?”

Lorelei and Agatha exchanged relieved smiles, and hugs were exchanged between all the members of a family that amazingly, remained unbroken.

End Fic

Completed 8/19/06

Edited 8/1/09

Come on my dear readers, look at the theme. How could I not make it angst?

… It was inspired by the SG-1 that I watched last night. Angst! Though I’ve only watched ten or so episodes out of the whole series, so don’t expect me to have a lot of knowledge…

… Yeah, not much romance, but I think it’s kind of cute!