I hate organic chemistry. *Cry*

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

Timeline: 2 years later

Chapter 2

“I know you…”

Lance turned around, frowning. His wings were hidden with a simple illusion, looking like a cape of purest black silk lined with crimson, and the black trainer outfit he wore was common enough.

Disguise, disguise…

Red nodded. “You’re the trainer who saved my life, aren’t you?”

“Odd that you remember such an event.” He returned crisply. He could feel the pokemon he carried with him stirring. Dragonite, Dragonair, and Gyarados… they were wary, ready to attack any strange gesture that might possibly harm their friend.

“How could I forget? You saved my life after all.”

Surely it was not that important a fact. Lives were changed daily. Besides, his reasons had been selfish. “And?”

Red flushed slightly. “Well, I mean... would you like to – I…”

“Yes?”

“I’d like to well, um… it’s not really repayment, but if you’d like to get a soda with me or something, we could talk?”

Why not? It would help his foray into human culture. Surely it would not be a waste of time. The Council had sent himself, and Lorelei, and Pryce and several others into the human world to observe.

Lorelei was off in the Islands, masquerading as a young girl and had been taken in by a wise old woman, with a strong affinity for ghosts. The fay had approved and she was to stay for several more years. Lance himself was faking a trainer’s position, not really difficult to do…

“Certainly.”

Red lit up and practically dragged him over to a roadside stand. He sipped the sugary water critically, as Red licked his ice cream cone. It wasn’t bad, just different. The Sprites lived on fresh fish and seaweed most of the time.

“So tell me about yourself.”

“Well,” Red thought. “It’s nothing really interesting.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I’m Red from Pallet Town….” Red took out his pokédex for proof. Lance looked intrigued, so he handed it over for inspection.

After all, very few trainers got pokedexes from Oak! He was proud that he had one. His skill lay in pokemon battling.

“Pallet Town is near the ocean, isn’t it? Oh, I’m sorry. My name’s Lance.”

“Oh yes. It’s only about half a mile, maybe less, to get to the beach.” Red grinned. “But my first pokemon was a Poliwag, not an ocean borne water-type. And it’s nice to meet you, Lance.”

“Interesting…” He mused, before handing the machine back.

“Where are you from?”

Lance hesitated. “One of the distant islands.” He hedged, finally. It was close enough to the truth.

“Are you a water pokemon trainer then?”

“Of a sort, but I prefer dragon pokémon.” Water? How very accurate, considering his situation. Suddenly, he coughed. The excess sugar in the soda was making him nauseous. His eyes glazed slightly.

Red was observant enough to catch the change. “Are you all right? Do I need to get help?” The trainer looked like he was choking!
“Water…” His voice came out croaky, but Red recognized it and hastily got a bottle of water. He watched as Lance drank it all.

This was like how some people got with too much sugar. “Are you diabetic then?” He asked, when Lance had finally stopped coughing and regained his color.

“Well, not that I know of.”

“Hmm. Well, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing for you to apologize for.” And a mental note to avoid soda in the future.

There was a lingering silence before Red spoke again. “You train dragon pokémon? That’s cool!” He was casting his mind around, frantically flailing for a conversation continuer. Silence was so… charged. It made him uneasy.

Lance grinned. “Would you like to see my favorite pokémon?”

“Sure.”

“I think you’ve seen her before.” Lance commented, as he released his Dragonair. Red’s eyes lit up.

“She’s beautiful!”

Dragonair preened. She was not a vain pokemon, but took compliments when they were given with a touch of pride.

The two of them began to talk of other unimportant things, with Red doing most of the talking as Lance skillfully maneuvered the conversation into details on the gym badge system and the general state of affairs in Kanto. By the time it got dark, both of them were feeling a bit tired.

“So, where are you staying the night?” Red asked. He’d planned to camp out, but it was getting cold.

“I’ve heard that the Shellder Inn in this city is good.”

Red nodded. “Cerulean’s a pretty nice city. In any case, I’ll crash with a friend. See you later!”

He ran off to Misty’s knowing that she was filthy rich and would let him stay the night, no problem. Plus they were friends!

Lance waved goodbye and then focused his eyes. In an instant, he was once again in Sprite form. Another twitch of time and he was immersed deep in the waters of Cerulean Cape. Ahh, it was so nice to be underwater again…

He had gill slits and slightly pointed ears that could be seen as a bit fin-like, but only if one looked closely, and Red had not bothered to. In any case, strange ears were hardly a new thing, what with hybrids of human and pokemon popping up all over the place, randomly.

In some ways, it was scary.

He let himself sleep, and in the morning, was up and back in Cerulean before Red was any the wiser. Red found Lance having breakfast in a café.

“Hi!”

“Good morning, Red.”

Red yawned. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. Some burglar had tried to make off with Misty’s silverware, so he’d fought them off with his pokemon, aided by Misty and hers.

After the Starmie incident, he never underestimated her again…

“So, you want to travel with me?”

“You mean on a pokemon journey?”

Red nodded. It would be nice to have a companion.

“Depends on where you’re going.” Lance said truthfully.

“Oh! Well, I was thinking about heading off to Houen.”

Lance thought quickly. That would be suitable. “Sounds fine to me.”

“Great! We’d better head to Vermillion then! There’s a ship leaving every two weeks!” And with that, Red dragged Lance into the whirlwind of adventure.

End Chapter

Completed 2/21/06