And… another chapter!

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

Sure enough, they received no further job offers from the various professors, and they understood the reason. There was nothing left to preserve. Viridian had been one of the last forests left standing, a symbol of enduring power, and now… it was gone, destroyed, burnt to nothing and wiped from maps and memory alike.

No wild pokemon frequented the ‘Sooty Waste’ as they now termed it. How appropriate…

The trainers had no other way to cross though, so they would buy hazardous waste gear and spend several days trekking across.

Such was their fate…

Well, hadn’t the humans brought this down upon themselves? Anything was fair given the circumstances. After all, without a forest, bad things happened.

The soil was washed away, the nutrients leeched out to sea, but the ocean did not want them, as the harmful red and blue algal blooms crawled over the edges of the continent, choking fish and killing shellfish.

It was horrible, but that was the way life was.

This was the reason why they had tried to protect the forest. Without the forest, there could be no river. Without rivers, the ocean was in danger. If the ocean suffered… well, they lived on an island and depended heavily on fish to augment their diet in the small agricultural communities.

Without the sea, they would all starve to death. It was already beginning, fish prices rising into the hundreds and equipment price sky-high…

Madhouse economics…

Well, you created this world, all of you! How do you like it? He could almost see the panicked looks on the faced of the Council as they finally realized the impacts of their greedy actions. It was too late.

There were no trees or bushes that could be transplanted to the damned rivers and fallen plains; there were no pokemon that could survive the harshness of the toxic environments… save Muk and Grimer.

Those pokemon were becoming increasingly popular around all of the coasts. Even the once-pristine Pallet Town was coated with black sludge. The ocean no longer glittered blue but a dull, virulent brown, or red, or green depending on the type of algae native to the area. It was quite horrible.

The native pokemon quickly began to die out. Without clean earth, air, and water, they could not live. Lung diseases began appearing in children, and women who ate tainted food miscarried and the children that were born were deformed, defected.

It happened so quickly… it seemed that time stood still and all the changes crashed overnight, stranding the population.

Pity.

“They should not all have to pay,” Lance thought, but he was quiet. No need letting anyone know he could heal if he wished. He limited his services to pokemon that came in the dead of night and even Ash didn’t know of his Viridian Power.

Now that his mother was gone in all but spirit, her power was his to use as he pleased. He chose to heal pokemon, but he would never heal a human.

Never. Even if in this life, it was different, he still bore loathing hundreds of lives long and it would not easily leave.

Besides, Ash wasn’t human, even if he did not know the extent of his pokemon side. It mattered little. He could still protect Ash, or Red, or whatever he chose to call himself.

It was easy to find him every time. The excess baggage between transfers was difficult though…

“Lance? Was there any luck?”
Lance looked up. The government was having him test different cleaning solutions against ocean water, but so far, nothing had worked and he had dutifully reported it as so. “No, Ash. No luck here.”

“I haven’t either… I wish there was something I can do…”

“You can’t save the world, Ash.” Lance said, watching to see if recognition would flare. It didn’t. Destiny and the others must still be dormant than…

He liked Ash though, no matter what form he was in, even in this hollow shell, he was still ardent and reminded him of the others, if their personalities had melded and mixed and been dumped in a cauldron full of naiveté to heat for several hours.

Ah, life was so… different from what he had expected…

They danced different patterns, variations on a theme, every single time. Lance watched as Ash left the room, and then flicked his fingers. Illusion peeled away, revealing several mutated Rattata.

He extended his power and watched as they became normal again.

“Will you go back?” He asked softly.

They shook their heads, and he opened the gates for them…

So many pokemon were heading to the Dream Realm that it was quite lucky that space there was never exhausted, nor resources limited. Besides, the pokemon took good care of their own and they already had one guardian watching there, just in case there was danger… from within. He expected betrayal. They all did. Sadly, it is often the most loyal who betray you, and it hurts the most that way.

I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.

If you hurt, I will heal you, but I will never do the same for them! Never…

Ash peeked in, having heard Lance talking to someone, but he saw nothing. Lance seemed to talk to himself a lot, but he wasn’t really crazy, right?

“Lance, I’m scared…”

“I’m scared as well, Ash… what could happen if the world continues, if we can’t save it, no one can. None of the other scientists have had any luck.”

“We’re going to die, aren’t we?”

“I suppose so.”

“I… I don’t want to die.”

“Nor do I, Ash, but we cannot fight fate.”

Something flashed darkly in Ash’s eyes as his stance shifted. “Maybe we should, Dragon Master.”

“Oh?” That caught his attention. “Destiny?”

“No,” The voice was sorrowful instead of wrathful. “I am Hope.”

“You have arrived in a time where there is no hope.”

“You did not try to prevent it.” The guardian accused, eyes dilating to sea green. “Why did you not try and stop this?”

“Mother and her sister forbade me to interfere. They even erased my memories.” Lance said simply. “I did not fully regain them until after mother died, and by then, it was too late.”

Hope sighed. “It is never too late. With your ice guardian wand and the wand of the water guardian we could fix things.”

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then… I’ll do it myself.”

“Will you really?” Lance asked, meeting those eyes, foreign yet so familiar. Hope and he had never really been friends… he was usually talking to Destiny or the Master of Hidden Shadows…

“If I have to.” Ash’s entire demeanor had changed, now that the physical changes had spread and the silvery transparent wing-fins were wrapped about his form. “Why do you not try and save them?”

“I save the pokemon. They come to me and I heal them and send them to the Dream Realm to wait until the purge is complete.”

“But what of the earth?”

“She can take care of herself, remember? We are only here to watch over the pokemon.” Lance frowned. “Out of all three forms, you are an oddity… you actually care for the humans. Why?”

“I…I just do. It is not fair that they all pay for the sins of a few.”

“Be as it may, I have no wish to help them.”

“If I do, will you stop me?”

“Tis your life to waste away as you please…”

“I thought you cared about me, Lance.” The legendary prodded, trying to raise a reaction. He smoothed down the white robe he was wearing with a frown, as Lance seemed to ignore his existence completely. “I thought you loved me!”

“I do, but if you wish to take this path away from me than tis your choice!”

“Fine, than I will, and I won’t come back!”

Lance watched dispassionately as the distraught pokemon raced out, shaking his head. It was odd of Hope to get so emotional, as he was supposed to be mature, for Lugia’s sake. Speaking of Lugia…

He sighed as he opened his hands and cupped them in a ball, concentrating, watching as a tiny pendant materialized, a blue-and-white dragon on a chain.

“I’m sorry, Father. I couldn’t protect you…”

There was no response, but it made him feel better to look. He tucked the pendant away again and sighed. If only things were different…

Destiny or the Master of Hidden Shadows would take over soon enough, and everything would be all right. Eventually.

Serebii must be happy right now. Lance gave the sky an ironical two-fingered salute and than returned to his novel, turning the page.

End Chapter

Completed 12/16/05

Yeah… odd, I usually write Ash as Destiny or the Master of Hidden Shadows, so this is kind of another introspective fic to explore his character as Hope.