Hai~! Chapter 2! Konnichiwa minna-san!

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

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

I’ve been doing a lot of YGO and CCS and Gargoyles and West Side Story and other stuff, so updates on pokemon have been sporadic. I’m just telling y’all now!

Chapter 2

Dead silence fell over the lab for several long moments. Finally, Oak broke it.

“I thought you said it was a pokemon!”

“Well, all I saw was the glowing light of evolution! I didn’t get a good look, the volcano erupting was kind of in the way.” The trainer said trying with noble but hopeless effort to entangle the former trainer from his body.

Lance purred as he blinked up at Red, frowning at the sound of… unhappiness?

That was bad. Pokemon weren’t supposed to make their Masters unhappy. That was disobeying and disobedience hurt!

The machine had been very thorough. Obedience was rewarded with pleasure, disobedience with pain, and even though the Healing and Conditioning means left no physical evidence, the mental changes had been successfully wired.

Lance frowned as Red continued to give off feelings of discomfort. The human pokémon looked miserable as he moved away and touched the button on the Ultra Ball, returning to the closed sphere. The action finally shocked Red out of his state of angst and caught the Professor’s attention.

“Professor, what’s wrong with him? It’s like he’s…” Not human, Red almost blurted out, but he bit his lip and kept his silence, waiting for the opinion of the more informed researcher.

Oak sounded worried. “Red I suppose this was not the best method in order to break this information to you, but an unfortunate case is that normally, the wild pokemon that you capture are conditioned when they are first placed in a Healing machine to become obedient to their new trainer. It is undoubtedly a cruel mechanism, however, your pokemon team was never subjected to this simply because you were able to bring out their loyalty and friendship without artificial means. However, this … young man had no such bond and was therefore subjected to the full force of a mental alteration done on wild pokemon. Normally, such actions are warranted to prevent property damage and trainer injuries or possible deaths, but…”

Red blinked as he attempted to parse what Professor Oak was telling him. “So basically, you put him through what a wild pokemon goes through?”

“In essence, yes.” The Professor nodded.

Red was not quite sure what to make of the situation. True, he had thought it odd how pokemon he captured and sent to Oak’s were obedient on their return, but he had attributed it to his own ‘making friends’ policy. Finding that it was a lie, especially when revealed in such a barefaced manner, was quite a blow to his self-esteem. It also blew a hole right through his trust of the old Professor.

“I… I need some time to think.” Red finally said, tucking the Ultra ball containing his newest acquisition into his vest pocket. “Sorry Professor, it’s just a shock to find out like this.”

“Completely understandable, my dear boy.” Oak replied in a reassuring tone. “I ought to have been more careful… but all reports indicated it was a wild pokemon. Take care, and do be careful! It is uncertain what personality traits and knowledge still remain. I really would prefer to keep it under observation for a few more days…”

Red twitched. The Professor was talking about this boy he had captured like he was some remarkable specimen! “Maybe I’ll come back later.” He bluffed. “Bye, Professor.”

Back at his house, Red began packing his camping supplies. He would need relative peace and quiet without the paparazzi and fangirls chasing him… all his mental facilities would be necessary to deal with this new pokemon.

Human, not pokemon, he reminded himself. Even if this… what was his name, Lance? Had been captured inside a poke ball, he was still human.

That, though, was disturbing. Could humanity eventually be replaced by pokemon? Could he himself wind up in a poke ball?

Well, no use dwelling over past mistakes. A quick check to make sure everything was packed, and then Aerodactyl was soaring into the air, taking them far away from Pallet Town. Mount Silver in Johto had healing springs, Blue had told him, and it seemed a relatively quiet place.

Yes, that would be somewhere he could take his new pokemon and try and figure out a way to fix things. Red was no fool. He knew that he was reckless and impulsive in battle, and those fit with his battling style, but…

He didn’t mean to hurt anyone! He had never meant to hurt anyone… and even if Lance had been the Leader of the Elite Four, seeing him reduced to this was… shocking. The revelation about pokemon Healing machines had been difficult to stomach as well.

He had just been put through one odd situation too many today.

Red noticed that the clouds were thinning and it was getting a bit difficult to breathe. “Aeroy, down. We’re there, looks like.”

The Aerodactyl nodded and dipped his wings as they gracefully spiraled in the air for a few minutes before landing on the dusty underbrush. The mountain was mostly rocky and barren, at least at the elevation they were currently at.

Down, though, Red could see several hot springs surrounded by grassy fields. That meant wild pokemon!

His high spirits quickly dropped though, as he looked at the Ultra ball in his vest. If he let wild pokemon endure such humiliating schemes, then… what kind of trainer did that make him?

It rendered his ‘Let’s be friends’ adage completely worthless if they were brainwashed to be obedient! There was also a hot flash of anger directed towards the Professor for condoning and using such methods. True, wild pokémon could be vicious, but most pokemon were not that way by nature!

It hurt.

With a sigh, he stripped his clothes down to his boxers and sank into the warm waters of the hot spring. To his surprise, pleasant warmth suffused his body and the pain all but vanished, obliterated under the force of natural healing.

Interesting.

Well, perhaps it could cure… his pokemon too? That thought in mind, Red dropped his six pokemon in the spring was well. Eevee was a bit miffed to be wet and Aerodactyl gave him a baleful glare, but…

They all seemed healthier when they clambered out of the water. Even Eevee’s scars from Team Rocket were gone!

Well, his wrists and ankles had been fixed too. So this was the power of the healing springs…

Maybe… could it heal mental damage too? With hat thought in mind, Red let Lance out of the Ultra ball and waited to see what would happen.

The human – Red blushed, seeing that Lance’s state of dress was kind of limited, something he hadn’t noticed earlier, and hastily dug a pair of clothes out of his backpack. “Here! Put these on!”

Lance was surprised to find that they actually fit him; he hadn’t thought he was that short, and then coughed as Red threw a thermos full of water over him.

“Are you all right now?” Red asked, hoping the hot springs lived up to their reputation and worked on everything.

Lance shook his wet hair out and frowned. “A little bit, Master. I feel clearer.”

“…Uh-oh.” Red muttered. Perhaps the healing had not worked as much as he wanted it to. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Because Master is Master.” Lance said as if that made everything clear. It did not, of course. Red colored to match his namesake in response.

He had a feeling that life was about to become quite complicated…

“What do you remember Lance?”

The older boy’s face frowned. “Lance was human, but became pokemon when Master caught Lance.” He smiled. “Lance has family in Blackthorn but only seen once or twice. Does Master want Lance to be human?”

Argh! “Can you talk normally?”

“Master does not want Lance to talk?”

“Why are you referring to yourself in third person?” Red demanded. “It’s unnerving. Cut it out!”

The boy frowned. “Lance not knowing why Lance talk like this. Lance thinks maybe it because Lance was put in poke ball and became pokemon.”

Someone out there was laughing at him. Red felt a renewed surge of guilt “I see.”

“Is Master angry with Lance?”

“No! Of course not. “ Red said, seeing the depressed look on his… *shudder* pokemon’s face. “It’s just that I’m surprised.”

The other pokemon by now had gathered around and were eyeing the new… pokemon with suspicion, but no real malice.

He looked so human!

So, when did Master Red catch you? Vee the Eevee asked.

Lance smiled. Not remember. Only remember light and fire…

You’re a feral? Poliwrath frowned. He himself had talked in broken speech as a Poliwag and had only gotten better when he’d evolved into a Poliwhirl.

Aerodactyl sniffed Lance. You’re a dragon-type? How nice!

Lance not know what type, only remember dragon pokemon… Lance used to train dragon pokemon…

You were a trainer? Vee the Eevee gasped. How did you turn into a pokemon?

Lance not really remember…

Venusaur put a gentle vine on one shoulder. Don’t worry about it. I’m sure that your normal speech and memories will come back soon.

Thank you.

Red registered a flash as his Snorlax was transferred back to Oak’s lab. He was over the pokemon limit after all, if he counted Lance.

So now he had Venusaur, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Eevee, Poliwrath, and Lance. He could only hope things would improve.

But Lance was talking to his pokemon and seemed to understand them! That was cool. For a moment, Red wished he could do the same, than slapped himself. He wasn’t going to be turned into a pokemon just to learn how to speak pokemon language!

But he might as well figure out what Lance was. Flicking open his pokédex, he looked at the text inside.

Name: Lance

Type: Dragon/Ghost

Level: 5

Attacks Known: Softboiled, Thunderwave, Hypnosis

That was an interesting move set, Red had to admit, but still disconcerting… he was about to say more, but that was when a slavering Raticate leapt out of the bushes and attacked, teeth wide open in a Bite move.

End Chapter

Completed 12/2/05

Phantomness: Yay for pokegenie!
Red: This worked better in the anime world

Lance: Well, that was het. This one’s shonen-ai…

For those who don’t know why Lance knows Softboiled, it’s what his Viridian Power turned into, k?