I wonder how Ash feels…

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

Chapter 6

“I-I’m sorry.” Ashline whimpered, after the grunt had run off. “I didn’t mean to cause you trouble…”

“Look, I could have taken care of it myself…”

“I’m sorry!”

“Ash dear… Trust me, all right? I’m helping you capture the Shadow pokemon, aren’t I? And Meowth and Natu and my dear Mysdreavus are completely clear, although I still don’t know how to undo the final lock…”

“Yes… it’s just that,” It’s just that she had gotten jealous, loathe, as she was to admit it… Lance was cute, and seeing him with someone else irked her.

The Final lock. What was the final lock? He didn’t know, but he had discovered – experimentally though, of course, that using his healing power on a Shadow pokemon could cure it in one go. Quite useful, if he didn’t want to waste time, and he didn’t, not on some of the weaker pokemon. Oh, he felt sorry for them, but they weren’t his dear dragons or dear pokemon, though now they were… hmm…

He loved pokemon as a whole, but some types – Slugma, for example, fire/rock, none of his controls, no water or wind or darkness – he had no real love for it, unlike Charizard, which was practically a dragon…

Skiploom was grass, but he’d never had many grass types. They just weren’t as close… well, no use discussing it now.

Dark, dragon, ice… steel and flying, water and psychic and ghost… those were his fortes…

Lance shook himself out of his musings as Ashline followed him mutely out of the warehouse…

“Wait!”

Several grunts ran out. Lance smirked. Time to show off again…

His dragons decimated all thirty? Forty? Of their pokemon… and in the fray, he managed to snag three more shadows…

Good work for a day…

Ashline had hidden behind a desk after the grunts had come – she hated being so frightened, but there were lots of scary pokémon out there, and ever since Meowth had bitten her she’d been wary of shadow pokemon…

Lance clipped the three new poke balls to his belt. Remoraid, Sudowoodo, a Plusle… not bad…

He felt tired…

“Lance?”

It didn’t make any sense, why was he tired? Surely it wasn’t…

“Lance!”

Ashline watched as the trainer just… fainted. Before he hit the ground, a poke ball opened and one of his Dragonair caught him.

Phew…

Darkstar looked at his master anxiously. < Energy drain… he doesn’t realize that he can’t use Shadow pokemon without them sapping his energy, and although he’s purified them, the stain moves on and consumes him instead…! >

< We’ll take him home to father! > Ptera said.

< That’s the best way… >

< What about the girl? >

< I suppose we’ll take her too… >

Ashline gulped nervously as the Aerodactyl motioned for her to climb on, but she did, and then the dragons flew off… past the desert, past oceans and islands, finally coming to an island…

They dove underwater, and a protective bubble surrounded Aerodactyl and Ashline… and finally, they surfaced in an icy cavern full of crystalline structures…

Ashline shuddered as she watched the person fly in – wait! No, it wasn’t a person, not that huge shadow… it couldn’t be human…

Lugia turned to Aerodactyl and Dragonair, took one look at Lance, and roared, < What happened to my child?! >

Dragonair cringed. < Lugia-san… he overextended himself, trying to heal the shadow pokemon in Orre… >

Lugia’s anger deflated instantly as he sighed. < I should have known. Such a foolish child of mine…. >

< Lugia-san? >

< Put him down on the altar. I’ll heal him… he really ought to take better care of himself… > Lugia watched as they set Lance down, before he ran blue healing light over him… moments later, the Dragon Master opened his eyes sleepily.

< F-Father? >

< Child, you could drive any parent to despair… >

< I am sorry. I thought that it was just like healing normal pokemon… >

< You always cared about them too much… you love them more than your own life… ah Child, you worry me so… >

Lance sighed. < It wouldn’t work anyways… it hurt so much, Father… I got to see everything that they did to turn them into Shadow pokemon… those bastards… I’ll kill them! I’ll cast the Curse of Dragon’s Blood and kill them all! >

< Lance, calm down… >

< I’ll kill them… but first, I’ll save the rest… >

Lugia sighed again. < I knew it. You’re too impetuous – and as I said, you care too much. Go then, and bring the lost pokemon home again, but here… >

< Father… >

A brilliant light shone from Lugia’s body, and a second later, an object floated into Lance’s hands. The Champion gasped.

< This is-! I thought it was destroyed… > in his hands, twisted bronze rose to encompass three sharp blue crystals…

< The Wand of the Water Guardian… used to heal… it was not necessary for so many lives, but now… your power is too weak without it. >

< I understand. >

< Purify them with the wand, and then bring them home… >

< Father, thank you… >

< I’m counting on you, dear Child… >

< I know. >

Lance beckoned to Ashline. < Are you coming back to Orre with me? >

“What? Of course I will! We need to save the pokemon!”

< Yes, we do… let’s go… >

Ashline shrugged. She could ask Lance about the weird healing thing or whatever he had gone through later. She hadn’t heard any of the telepathic conversation after all…

It was none of her business, really, what he did… as long as he helped her save the Shadow pokemon and finally get her Drowzee back!

End Chapter

Completed 7/11/05

Ashline is rather dense, isn’t she? Well, this is like a female Ash, so it’s not that OOC…