^^V New series!
Title: Finding Love
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Red)
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
Warnings: I write a strange mix of anime-verse,
manga-verse and game-verse, though the characters are based mostly on their
manga versions. Shonen-ai and Shoujo-ai alert!
Chapter 1
Red never realized how hard it would be to find someone to love him. As the Champion of the Kanto League, he had legions upon legions of fans. However, his fangirls loved him for his good looks, his battling technique, and perhaps his wealth, but not for his personality. None of them actually knew what he was like, as a person, and after dating two or three of them, he gave up on the whole idea.
He was lamenting the state of affairs to Lance one evening, while Lorelei and Agatha were out shopping and Bruno was out training, as usual.
Lance gave him a look, and then asked him if he’d ever been in love.
He hadn’t been.
“Well,” Lance said, as he finished listening to Red recount his misadventures. “It is very unfortunate that your date turned out to be afraid of Tentacool and actually jumped out of your rented sailboat and swam to shore, cursing you all the while, but surely not every girl out there is like that.”
“That’s the problem.” Red frowned. “None of the girls who drool over me really know what I’m like.”
“I was under the impression that those fan magazines had made every little detail of your life public.”
Red flushed. “Lance…”
“Seriously though, finding a girlfriend can’t be that difficult.”
“Do you have one?” Red shot back.
“Why no, but I don’t want one.”
“That’s where we differ.” Red huffed. “Anyways, can you help me?”
“… You want me to help you find a girlfriend?” Lance asked incredulously.
Red nodded emphatically, bobbing his head up and down. “Yes! We’re friends, aren’t we? And you know me as a person, so it can totally work!”
“Er…”
“Besides, I’ll give you a list of what I like and dislike!”
Lance was not too sure whether he ought to laugh or cry at Red’s naiveté. The truth was, he was rather enamored of Red himself and had absolutely no interest in pairing him off with some giggly girl, but if it was what Red wanted, well…
“Draw up that list then, and we’ll see.”
The next morning, Red, with dark circles the size of bruises around his eyes, presented Lance with the list, before he collapsed face first into his bowl of oatmeal.
Lance fished him out and whacked him on the back a few times to get him breathing again, while Lorelei giggled and Bruno asked what he had been doing.
When told of romance, the fighting type trainer grunted and went back to his rice and green tea.
Lance scanned the list, smiling when he noticed several points, such as ‘Must be shorter than me’, and ‘Must clean house well’. However, it seemed Red was looking for more than a girlfriend.
It almost seemed… no, he was thinking too much.
“You want someone who wears kimono all the time?”
“Not all the time.” Red mumbled groggily, taking a big gulp of his chocolate milk. “But I want someone who wears kimono when she dresses up nice.”
“In that case, why don’t you go out with Erika?” He suggested.
“Erika?” Red blinked. “Hey, that’s right! I could just date a gym leader!”
“The chances of compatibility would be significantly higher than for a random girl off the street.” Lance commented, deadpan.
Red quickly bolted down the rest of his breakfast, before he ran to the phone to call Erika.
Agatha watched him leave, chuckling. “I remember when Green went through that phase.”
“Did he grow out of it?”
“Remarkably quickly, once he settled down a bit and decided it wasn’t just his taste. In some ways, he rather reminds me of you.”
“Oh? I wonder why that is so?”
Agatha just grinned secretively.
“You want someone with eyes and hair like yours? That’s going to be a bit difficult to find.”
“You don’t have to match every criteria on the list, Lance! Just most of them!”
“So, are you going out with Erika tonight?”
“No.” Red deflated. “She’s busy with the Celadon Flower Ceremony until Friday. Then she told me she was already going out with Sabrina.”
Lance raised his eyebrows.
“It’s true!”
“Well, if that’s the case, I’d also suggest you not ask Lorelei or Clair either.”
“Why-ohh.” Red colored. “It’s okay. Besides, Lorelei is way too old for me!”
Lorelei poked her head in. “What are you talking about, Red? I’m not old.”
“Not that! I mean… I’m a lot younger than you are, so I don’t think it would be right for us to date!”
Lorelei laughed. “I see how it is. Anyway, I’m making cinnamon cookies, do you want to help?”
“Okay!”
Red rushed off to join Lorelei in the kitchen, and Lance went back to studying Red’s list, calculating.
“So, Red, why the sudden interest in a girlfriend?” Lorelei asked, as they mixed eggs and sugar and flour with milk, added a pinch of baking soda, and began rolling out plump little balls of dough. The cinnamon would go last, sprinkled over the tops.
Red shrugged. “I’m not really sure.”
“Are you unhappy here?”
“No! Not at all! All of the Elite Four are very nice! But I... I want someone to love me, you know? Not like a friend, but something else.”
Lorelei nodded. “Someone whose voice gives you butterflies in the stomach and you can take out on dates?”
“Something like that, I guess.” Red finished patting his cookies into place and reached for the cinnamon shaker. “Do you think that’s funny, Lorelei?”
“I think it’s a rather admirable interest.”
“Oh.”
“I wish you lots of luck, Red, and here’s a hint. Some girls like boys who compliment their looks and buy them lots of presents.”
“Okay.” Red nodded, and they went back to baking.
End Chapter
Completed 9/17/06
Phantomness: Hah! I can still write chapter fic!
Lance: Whatever on earth made you think you couldn’t?
Red: I think she was just too stressed last night
Lance: *Smirk* I see