Episode 192 I think

Disclaimer: *Sighs* Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. I am only borrowing their characters. I do own what I make up myself, i.e., my version of Destiny.

Notes: <telepathy>, * thoughts*, pokemon talking

Still in flashback mode, I think I’ll write quite a bit of my arc in the past. Houen region.

Whatever – yes, dark angel is complete. Also, please remember, this arc is optional…

Ranma – yes, it is… frustrating when no one else writes it. *Sighs*

Link Masters – thanks! Ah, ankle’s still twisted. >.<

Akiko Koishii – I’m glad you like my work. ^_^ I’d love to see your fanart, when your scanner is fixed, please send it to shadowphantomness@yahoo.com

Episode 192: So we finally go to the first gym

Lance and Ash rode along on Rapidash’s back as it trotted daintily towards Rustboro City. Rapidash neighed good-naturedly as Ash combed out the tangles in her flaming mane.

“It’s great to get a rest, isn’t it, girl?”

Oh yes, Master Ash. Wonderful! She replied. And now you don’t have to worry about your mate anymore.

A faint pink blush tinged Ash’s cheeks. “A-ano…”

“Shy?” Lance asked, wrapping her arms around him.

Ash resembled a beet as he nodded and squeaked.

Lance laughed delightedly as she ruffled his hair; such an adorable little guardian. And he was all hers now.

That made it all worthwhile.

They ambled along slowly, just watching the blue sky, wrapped in each of their own thoughts.

It wasn’t as if the battle was any challenge. Ash could kill all her pokemon in an instant, rock was under his power after all, but he didn’t care to use that power. * He could drain the life away from half this realm’s pokemon at will, but he’ll never resort to those measures… * Lance thought.

She was correct, to a certain extent.

The thought that she might not be there someday had never crossed her mind.

Soon, they saw the brown roofs of Rustboro in plain view. Faint streaks of gray sparkled from in between, and the tops of some trees were seen as well, although the proportion of foliage in the area to, say, Fortree, was starkly lacking.

Ash twitched slightly. He liked nature.

“Are you ready for the gym? Or should we hit the Devon goods corporation first?”

“Mm… we do have to pick up our free samples!” Ash grinned.

“Right.” Lance agreed. “Okay then. Devon and then Roxanne’s gym.”

Ash winked as they entered the Devon Corp skyscraper.

A mouse-haired secretary greeted them.

“Welcome. May I help you?”

“We’re here to pick up something.” Ash said. “Which floor is the director on?”

“Sorry, I can’t let you see him.” She instantly became defensive. “Team Aqua has taken over all of the floors above.”

“Well then… we’ll just have to fight our way in.”

“No! You don’t understand!”

Lance’s fingers twitched slightly and an instant later the secretary was limp and snorting on the ground in slumber.

“Sleep.”

Ash buckled on his black armor and picked up his key, smiling as it glowed with a reassuring light. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

They walked into the elevator and hit the button for the second floor, as the stairs had been sealed off.

As soon as the mahogany doors slid open, an Aqua grunt attacked.

“Carvanha! Go!”

“Minun, Shockwave.” Ash said idly. Carvanha certainly didn’t fare well, as it was reduced to a popped balloon, or the equivalent of thereof.

“Oh no!” Kicking the rules out the window, the grunt released two Mightyena.

Ash yawned slightly. * All right then… *

“Machamp… play with them.”

He crossed his arms and waited for the next wave.

A few feet away, Lance’s twin dragonair had whipped three more Aqua grunts into oblivion. Reinforcements began pouring down the hastily unblocked stairs.

“What a pain… Dragonite! Hyper Beam!”

It wasn’t as if the attack hadn’t worked. But the repairs to the wall might be expensive.

Lance shrugged simply. “Diamond Dust.”

The next wave of aqua members turned into statues. Pure diamond.

“That ought to pay for damages.”

“Smart Lance-chan!” Ash said, as he multiplied his Tentacool card and suddenly the area filled with stinging little jellyfish. Convenient, the almost limitless power at his control now, and Sabrina wasn’t in danger anymore.

Skymew appeared and took battle position as well. Ice beams and hyper beams flew everywhere.

In about six minutes, the threat had been eliminated. The police arrived and arrested the remaining Aqua members who were still… alive, and then left.

Ash and Lance went to find the President.

He was locked in his bathroom, with bars on the door. Poor guy.

“Well, it was smart of the Aqua members, certainly.”

Skymew giggled from Ash’s shoulder and flipped her ears. She than performed a Tail Attack on the door, but not much damage was done.

Ash sighed.

Lance’s eyes glowed. “Power…” The card glowed and cast its magic on her, and a second later she had torn the bars off. Casually unlocking the door with her key of darkness, she came face to face with a terrified gray-haired man.

“Help!”

“Shut up…” Lance muttered. “We’re here to rescue you. Not that it’s necessary now, since we’ve disposed of TA. Didn’t you hear the police sirens?”

The man turned an interesting shade of blue. “You did?”

“Yes.” Lance said exasperatedly.

“Oh thank you! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU-.”

Lance cut him off with a wave of her hand. “You might need to do some repairs though. But come on.”

Several employees came rushing up. “Mr. President! You’re safe!”

“We were so worried!”

Ash meanwhile, was reading rather different thoughts. One young woman was muttering something about ‘stupid molesting bastard didn’t get killed’, another griped that he overworked them, a male needed a new computer, and the delivery boy had a long list of complaints as well.

< Interesting… >

< Yes, isn’t it? Well, let’s get our samples and go. >

< Hai! > Ash made a little mock salute as Lance rolled her eyes.

The president finally got over his shock that, yes, the Dragon Master of the Elite Four and the Indigo League Champion saved him, and of course they got their presents, and a couple of checks with happy little chains of zeroes after them.

It was quite fun.

Ash happily skipped out of the building. Those diamond statues would more than cover the cost of the ‘renovation’.

Lance followed behind him, managing to look graceful even though she wasn’t trying. Ash pouted slightly.

“What?”

“How do you do that?”

“Remember? Before I ran away from home, I had to take lessons in deportment and embroidery and the rest of that.”

“Yuck.” Ash muttered.

Lance chuckled. “Well, it’s true. Off to the gym now?”

“In a second. Can we get a snack?”

Lance nodded and they purchased some fries and burgers from a little roadside cart, while Pika-chan stuffed her face with several ice cream sandwiches. She idly wondered how Pika-chan managed to fix six its-its in her mouth at the same time. Maybe… she had a detachable jaw, like a snake.

She took another fry and ate it as she watched Ash feed Skymew some of his own fries. How cute!

Skymew purred happily...Hard to believe that Sabrina possessed inside such a kawaii little creature.

Still, nobody would believe her if she told them she could kill them with a thought.

Lance pushed that away and finished the rest of her hamburger. Standing up and brushing off her black pants, she yawned slightly and took another sip of her Sprite.

“Ash… you done yet?”

A pair of soft eyes, strange how they were still so innocent, looked up from a half-eaten burger with ketchup dribbling down the chin.

She laughed and wiped him off with a napkin, even though he protested.

“Come on, Ash. I thought you ate faster than that.”

Well, she was glared at, and then the burger disappeared in a wink and he was up and jumping and raring to go.

The two trainers linked hands and walked towards Rustboro Gym.

Hmm… is not sure if reading ‘Possession’ by Edmondia Dantes while writing influences my fic? But I liked this chapter!

12/17/03 to 12/26/03

Well, remember, if you want to chat, please join my Yahoo! Group…

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/championshippingnomiko/

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