Hmm… odd how my MS Word works. Oh well.
Disclaimer: I don’t own pokemon. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfic belongs to me!
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Red Kitcham in this universe = Ash Ketchum in pokemon universe
Chapter 3
A few days had passed without complications. However, this day, Red was staying at the library to look up information on barn owls, and Lance was walking home by himself. The bullies noticed this fact swiftly…
And took advantage of it.
Lance cursed his stupidity as he met the ground. He should have known that even without pokemon, they would have found a way to pick on him. Anger overrode rationality in his mind, how _dare_ these punks do this to him! He wasn’t any ordinary child! One of the poke balls on his necklace opened, revealing Gyarados.
The bullies backed away, shock etched on their features.
“Gyarados, Hyper-.” Lance stopped, not wanting to blow up the school… at least not yet. Something… aha.
“Thunderwave!”
Electricity danced over the bodies of five boys, leaving them paralyzed. They would stay that way for a few days.
Lance brushed himself off and recalled Gyarados, wincing. He pressed his hands to his injured side as blue-green light covered his body. The Viridian Power had come through for him once again…
Picking up his backpack, he headed home.
“Lance! There’s dirt all over your clothes! What happened?” Delia asked.
“I ran into some trouble.” Lance said. “Got jumped by a few kids on my way home.”
“Oh no! Are you all right?”
Lance nodded. “Yes, just a little scratched up.”
Delia still looked worried, but decided not to press. If there were anything seriously wrong surely he would tell her.
“Well, all right…”
Lance helped himself to milk and an apple and then went upstairs to do his composition. He had to write a short story.
Hmm… he didn’t really like that, but maybe…
With a smile, he started. “Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ash, who wanted to start on his pokemon journey…”
Three weeks later, the composition was completed.
“What an original idea, Lance!”
“Thank you.” Lance said. He had cut down the number of pokemon to forty – mostly common ones, he wasn’t going to tell anyone about the dragons, and instead of gyms and a league, he had made it so that once you caught thirty pokemon you were automatically awarded a diploma. There were classes on how to catch and train pokemon as well…
Pokemon Centers and Potions had all been eliminated. Instead, trainers carried a glowing blue magic wand used to heal their pokemon. It was a modification on the Wand of the Water Guardian…
There were only five types of pokemon – Normal, Grass, Rock, Fire, and Water. Normal was weak to none, but its attacks wouldn’t dent a rock-type. Grass and Water beat Rock, and Water also beat Fire. Fire beat Grass, but was weak to water and Rock. Everything had been scaled down.
Indigo Island had been renamed ‘Pokemontropolis’, and to become a ‘Pokemon Master’, you had to obtain two degrees – one in pokemon biology and one in wilderness survival. Camping, basic healing, etcetera…
All in all, the month-long project – the teacher enjoyed it. Some of the kids did too.
“Man, I wish I had a Charmander.”
“Nah, I want a Squirtle!”
Lance was making money drawing pictures of pokemon and selling them off to kids. It seemed a good enough arrangement.
However, even the bubble must burst sometime. He had tried to write like a child, but he couldn’t help it if he was more eloquent then they.
“He’s good,” The principal said, talking to Lance’s teacher, Mr. Rodriguez. “But is it just writing?”
“Yes, he’s not too good with science or math.”
“Interesting. It could just be natural talent.”
“In a foster child? Unlikely.”
“You think he is plagiarizing someone else’s work?”
“I find that quite possible.”
“Look, until you find proof, I cannot do anything. You know that, correct?”
“Yes…”
Lance closed his eyes as he finished a drawing of a Rattata. Some kid was paying him six dollars for it. Still, this was a good way to earn money…
Delia wouldn’t accept it, but that was fine. He needed money from this region anyway, just in case…
He might have to run away someday…
Just in case…
He still wanted to go home… he missed Kairyuu and Claire and Lorelei…
Back in the pokemon world, Lorelei and Claire had managed to get Dragonite’s version of the story out. They weren’t happy, but Dragonite did have the Team Rocket info they had sent Lance to retrieve.
Lance himself and all his pokemon were gone though.
“You think he’s really dead?”
“I don’t know.” Claire sighed. “My cousin is rather talented, but even if he did have a back-up plan, I don’t see where he could hide after getting shot.”
Lorelei sighed.. “We’ve lost our Champion… people are going to start asking questions.”
“Not yet, it’s only been two days.”
“I hope he returns soon then…”
Claire shook her head. “Well… if we factor in the Viridian Power…”
“The what?”
“You know, Lance’s ability to heal things and use telepathy. He might have healed himself but lost his memory in the process.”
“… I guess that’s possible.”
“The weird thing is, if he were dead, I’d know, because the dragon orbs in Blackthorn go black once a trainer dies. But Lance’s still shines pretty brightly. Maybe he’s just injured…”
“Let’s hope so…”
End Chapter
Yep, time runs a lot faster in the universe Lance has fallen into then in the pokeverse.
Completed 2/26/05
Mew, I’m tired…