On an unrelated note, Wikipedia informed me that Dragonair’s original English name was ‘Dragyn’, coincidentally, the last name I gave Lance. How’s that for some zap-zap?

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

And… Lance acts cold! Yay!

Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Red)

Chapter 2

He woke up to find Lance leaning over him. He realized that he had been stripped down to his boxers and was wrapped in something very warm and comfortable.

“What did you do to me?” Red sounded slightly panicked. Lance wouldn’t… would he? Well, maybe he would… if he were lonely enough…

“For the love of Lugia, nothing! However, the ones that live here have to be sure you have the right to live here.”

“Huh?”

As if in response, a pokemon approached him. It looked a lot like a Growlithe only it was the wrong color. Or it was… blackish purple?

No… something was wrong…

He shivered, but kept calm. Reaching for his poke balls would probably not be a good move. A breath, two breaths moved, and then silence.

< He passes. >

Lance nodded. < Then let it begin. > Red gave a quiet scream was he stared at the Growlithe, but something else had spoken, and cold, clammy flesh met his shoulder blades and he passed out again.

Lance shot the Shadow Suicune a look, which she tossed back haughtily.

< He must learn. We cannot abide one of light here! >

< I understand perfectly. > Lance purred. And for a moment, he seemed to glow with a black aura as well, but it faded.

Suicune gave a short bark of laughter…

Waking again was like a gasp for breath, and he almost expected to feel … things… hanging on to him. But he didn’t.

He looked around, wondering what awaited him. The sheets he was lying on were a shimmery black silk, and he was wearing clothes. Yay. Hopefully that meant that Lance had dressed him and had not molested him in his sleep.

Red blinked as that thought registered, than banished it. The clothing he was wearing was made of a light black silk, a shirt and pants, nothing special. He found black leather boots going up to his knees, buffed to a bright shine. Slipping them on, he smiled. They felt nice.

A pokemon was waiting when he left the room, after having availed himself of the attached bathroom. The Umbreon flicked an ear irritably.

I should have known you would not die. Well, come along then, he’s waiting for you. Red nodded as he walked outside.

Outside, the sun was shining, but it was almost of an unbearable brightness. He shivered at the unaccustomed intensity, wondering how long he had been out if light made him so shaky.

The walk was not long though, and moments later, he was now in a forest. The cool shade was much more to his liking. Lance was waiting for him in a tree, minus the cape and jacket. It made him seem somewhat less imposing.

Lance slid off and landed on his feet, leaving Red blinking. He had good acrobatics himself, from training, but nothing like that…. No human could, even with training. What trickery was this?

“So. You passed.” Lance said.

“Passed what? Nothing since you brought me here has made any sense!”

You didn’t tell him? Umbreon asked, looking between them. I’m surprised. But then again, you’ve never brought another here? What will your father say?

“Nothing against it.” Lance half-smiled. “For here the bloodline runs strongest…”

“Well?” Red asked impatiently.

This is the island of the Shadow pokemon, we who are banned from the world of light outside. Umbreon finally said sulkily, when Lance made no move to say more. You are now one of us, and as such… the light will no longer be your ally.

Lance shrugged elegantly as Red shot him a startled look. “I tried to warn you. You were persistent. I decided you might be worth the effort.”

“I didn’t know you were going to alter my DNA!”

“Whatever gave you that idea?”

Red glared. “Well, now that I can understand pokemon talking…!”

“Ah, you noticed. I’m impressed.” Lance smirked. “So, what are you to do now?”

“What do you do here, besides hiding out?”

Lance shrugged. “Sleep, mostly, in all honestly.”

Red went fish-eyed. “SLEEP?”

“Yes, you find something wrong with that?” Lance asked. “It slows aging, in any case, and it’s wonderful to not have to worry, even with the nightmares…”

Umbreon flicked an ear and ran off.

“Can I catch the pokemon here?” Red finally asked.

“If you wish, though ‘twill be difficult…”

“Why?”

“Shadow pokemon have an edge normal pokemon do not.”

Red filed that information away – it was probably worth knowing, and went off to work. He found his poke balls lying next to his bed and clipped them on, watching in surprise as they… shifted. It was not so much what they looked like as the fact that he didn’t really have any way to clip them onto his clothing. He was therefore pleasantly surprised when they seemed to congeal and out of the air shimmered darkness, a belt of what looked like twisted golden metal, into the nooks and crannies his pokemon in their balls shrunk to a tiny size…

At least that explained why Lance didn’t carry pokémon… did he?

As he left the house he was in, he found pokemon all over the place, but all of them shimmered over with a black light. It was odd, but soon his eyes grew accustomed to it. However, he didn’t catch any… he watched and studied and observed what researchers could not, but it was nice…

Watching pokemon instead of spending all his time battling them was worthwhile, and he began to see how pokemon had their own quirks that could be manipulated to his usage. Maybe that would help him become a better trainer…

He found Lance one day, grooming his Dragonair.

“Do you only keep dragons?”

“I love all pokemon, almost,” Lance said, “But yes, I only keep dragons.”

“Is there any particular reason? I’m just curious….”
“Nothing.” Lance said coldly, and Red felt as if someone had just shoved him inside a refrigerator. The Dragon Master’s eyes had gone a more virulent shade of gold, edging towards red.

“But…”

“There are some things I do not wish to speak of.” Lance said harshly. “Leave me be. Is it not enough you’ve followed me?”

Red sighed. Lance was obviously antisocial…

Maybe he just needed a friend! It worked with Green’s pokemon, after all….

End Chapter

Completed 12/31/05

Started 12/29/05

Red: I’m acting like Ash

Lance: *blinks*

Phantomness: *Watches Twelfth Night and cheers for pseudo-yaoi*