I’m tired…
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 7
I win…
< With the Song of Life and the Song of Death, the Song of Creation and the Song of Destruction, the Song of Giving and the Song of Loss, the Song of Courage and the Song of Fear, the Songs of wind and weather, love and hate, sun and moon and night… I grant you the position as Bard! >
Lance’s eyes snapped open as power washed over her in blinding golden waves. Yes… intoxicating, better than any alcohol…
< Beautiful child… >
And she didn’t care who was speaking…
“It has already begun.”
“What’s wrong, Steven?” The man had been cured moments after he had eaten the pear. Wasn’t that a good thing?
“It was a redhead with golden eyes who accompanied you there?”
“Yes, why?”
“Oh dear Lugia… it’s her…”
“What’s wrong? She was just a wandering Minstrel.”
“Yes, but now she must have gotten the blessing as Bard. I’ll never be able to defeat her now…”
“Huh?”
“Look, Ash, if you meet here again, challenge her, all right?”
“What? Are you insane? I don’t know any combat!”
“No, I meant with your beasts…”
“Well, all right…” He owed Steven lots of favors in any case. What could it hurt?
It was quite easy. He found her in a village, well, he wandered around and got lost a lot and then he found her, but she was playing her clarinet and they were throwing coins it seemed perfectly normal…
“Is that you, Lance?”
“Hello, Ash. I trust you got the pear safely?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good...”
“I challenge you to a pokemon battle!” Ash said, and then realized that it had sounded stupid. And what was a pokemon battle?
“All right,” Lance half-smiled. “Let’s find an empty area. What do I get if I win?”
Ash shrugged. “I’m not rich, but I won’t give you one of my pokémon – er, I’m not giving up any of my dear creatures.”
“That’s fair enough… I’ll choose something if I win.”
“All right.”
She’s awfully confident… what is she going to do?
“Charizard!”
“Hakuryuu!”
Ash gasped as a dragon materialized. “How-?”
“I’m more than a Minstrel, Ash… I’m also a Summoner…” A Summoner was not quite the same as a Beast-Master, but they had more variety… they did not have a set repertoire of beasts they had captured…
But they could summon different creatures for different situations…
“Charizard, Flamethrower!”
“Rain Dance…”
It began to rain… the rain dampened the dragon’s flames and then the bluish lizard-like snake with white wings on its head spat out a wave of turbulent, muddy water, drowning Ash’s Charizard.
Lance smiled.
This is easy…
Ash gulped. “Pika-chan, I choose you!” He had bought a new glass ball to transfer Pika-chan into. Pika-chan saw her opponent and immediately took large form, small rodent body becoming more feline-like, with feathered wings…
“Interesting,” Lance said, “Thunder.”
“Pika-chan, use your own Thunder to counter the attack!”
Lightning flashed and winds roared as the lightning crackled over both opponents… and when the dust cleared, the Dragonair slipped down to the ground, charred. Lance smirked.
“My, my, perhaps you’re not as bad as I first thought, but the last match decides it all…we’re each one down, and now to match your electric rodent… my dear Larvitar, come fourth!”
In a flash, a tiny brownish-green creature appeared. It was less than a tenth of Pika-chan’s large form’s size. Ash blinked.
“Fissure.” Lance smiled sweetly, and then there was an agonizing cry from the mouse as it slipped back into small form, completely drained of energy.
Ash gulped. This would be difficult! But he wasn’t going to lose! Tentacool, flood it with your water – call water to drown it!”
“Larvitar dear, hang in there and then Earthquake. Tentacool have almost zero defense, so it will be quick…”
Odd, but Ash was starting to remember bits and snippets he hadn’t otherwise. He shrugged it off and concentrated. “One more!”
Double knockout…
Lance half-smiled again. “Well, Ash? Shall we?”
“One last one – I’ll try to defeat yours.” Ash said. “Skarmory!”
Lance smiled. What she summoned this time was a brownish-green color, another dragon look-alike… Lance seemed to favor dragons. “Steel Wing!” The bird’s body glinted as it bashed sharp feathers into the head of the dragon.
Flygon teetered, but used Dragonbreath, blue flames… poor, poor little Skarmory, but neither dragon nor steel had a type advantage to each other.
This would be interesting…
“Hyper Beam…”
A blast of yellow energy swelled in the dragon’s mouth, and Ash panicked. “Skarmory, kick sand into its eyes so it can’t see!”
“You don’t need your eyes, you can hear its movements, can’t you?”
Blinded, the beam half-missed, but the other half still hit. Skarmory squawked in pain, and Flygon immediately fired another attack in its direction.
Skarmory’s beak began to whirr as it dove towards Flygon, dodging the beam and sinking into scales, only slightly…
Still, it was blood, and that counted as victory.
“It seems we’ve tied…”
“Not yet!”
“Oh?”
“You beat three of mine already, but to win, I have to defeat four of yours. Send out your last pokemon.”
“Then I shall…”
End Chapter
Completed 7/9/05