Yes, what do orange, grapefruit, and kumquat rank on the smut scale? I only know lemon and lime!

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 11

A woman’s honor rides, on how you ride tonight… ride D’Artagnan, the tide D’Artagnan ride…Ride on!

(Athos, ‘Ride On’, Three Musketeers musical)

They rode for a long while, but finally decided to stop for lunch at an inn in Viridian City. It was rather empty; there was no one else in the inn save the innkeeper and a drunken man dressed in bright blue.

While they waited for their horses to be readied, the meal over, the stranger proposed to Brock a toast to the Cardinal. Brock replied that he would do the same if the stranger toasted to the King. The stranger replied haughtily that he knew no king but the Cardinal. Brock called him a drunkard; the stranger drew his sword.

“You’re an idiot.” Will said flatly. “But there’s no helping it. Kill him quickly and rejoin us later.” With that, he and the others rode off on their horses.

While they rode off Brock was promising to perforate the stranger with every thrust known to the fencing world. It was only when they had perhaps half a mile that Lance shook his head. “One down.”

“But why do you think they picked Brock?”

“He talks the loudest. He has no idea how to be discreet.” Will sighed. They rode hard, but stopped at Pewter City to give the horses a rest. After two hours, Brock had still not caught up with them, so they continued on.

However, right outside of Pewter, on the Route towards Mount Moon, there were about a dozen men engaged in road filling. The heavy storms had completely ruined the road, and so they were shoveling dirt in to fix it.

Will looked at the artificial bog disdainfully, not wanting to get his boots dirty. He began to upbraid the workmen for their laziness. In return, they rushed into the ditches where they had hidden their rifles and opened fire.

“Ride on!” Red cried. “It’s an ambush!”

No one needed urging, and the three friends hurriedly galloped on. Will winced, a bullet had passed through his shoulder and he was clinging to his horse’s mane to hold on. But an hour and a half later, at the entrance to Mount Moon, where there was a small inn, he vowed that he could go on no further.

They left him in the care of the innkeeper’s wife, a kind matronly woman, and his servant Wallace, who would be useless in a fight, and hesitated. Their horses were in no condition to be ridden, and Mount Moon was treacherous… they would have gone down through Viridian to Pallet, taken the ship to Cinnabar, and from there sailed to Houen, but Monsieur Lugia had warned them that that seaport was more closely guarded than Vermillion.

“What are we going to do, Lance?” Red asked. They could stay at the inn tonight, to give the horses time to rest, but even so, he didn’t think it would be safe.

“I don’t know.” Lance shook his head.

Red unconsciously rubbed the pendant Lance had given him. The other man’s eyes widened. “That’s it!”

“Your talisman has some special properties I am unaware of?”

“Not exactly.”

Red blinked. Lance’s eyes were scanning the room. The lady had taken Will upstairs, and Wallace had followed his master, so they were the only ones there. “Do you trust me, Red?”

“Of course I do. I trust you.”

“Good.” Lance smiled, before he kissed him.

Red flushed brightly as he watched Lance pull away. That kiss had been fiercely passionate, and he had liked it. However, it did not seem as though they would be going any farther. Lance’s body shimmered, before he gave an abrupt shudder. First his clothing bleached to a white color, and then he fell forwards, face twisted in pain. Red was about to rush over and help, when he saw a rippling motion and then all of a sudden, it wasn’t Lance standing in front of him anymore, but a creature heard of only in myths and legends. Sharp golden eyes studied him as scaly wings extended to their full length.

“You’re a dragon?”

Lance nodded. Red hesitated. He was loath to leave their horses here, but there was nothing else that could be done. William would take good care of them.

He shouldered his pack and climbed on. Lance took off immediately after. Within moments, they were passing over the peaks and ridges of Mount Moon.

So much for traversing them!

They scaled the heights quickly, and for about an hour, everything was going smoothly and they had just cleared the last peak when something happened.

Lance seemed to falter, and his wings began to change, to pull in on themselves. He hurriedly dove for the ground, as the changes continued, the white washing away, and they hit the ground just as his last transformation wore off, scaled claws changing back into hands and feet. He groaned and shook himself, wincing.

“Are you all right?” Red asked. They hadn’t fallen from too high, and the ground below had been slick mud, so aside from being dirty, they seemed all right.

Flying had been cool though.

Lance looked at their bedraggled state and shook his head, laughing. “Well, all I can say is that we made it through most of Mount Moon safely.”

“We’d better get clean though. I don’t think it will be fun getting to Houen looking like this.”

“No, I doubt they’d let us on the boat.”

Red hesitated as they headed towards a stream not far away. Lance stripped off his clothing without ado and into the water he went. Red followed, feeling a bit shy.

“So… um…”

“Why did I kiss you?” Lance deduced.

Red nodded, crimson staining his cheeks once again.

“That’s simple. It was necessary to activate the transformation. But as you can see, it only lasts an hour at the most. Most unfortunate…”

“But why…”

Lance shrugged. “It’s a dragon’s instinct to protect. But for someone to be worth protecting, they must be important. I suppose that the act of kissing you signified that you were important to me. It’s just the way the crystal works.”

“You mean this crystal causes you to transform?” Red looked at the necklace Lance had given him with new respect.

“Yes. I have no idea why, though.”

“That’s fascinating… but if it’s so important, why did you give it to me?”

“I trust you.” Lance said simply.

“I see…”

“Besides, if you weren’t wearing it, you wouldn’t be able to touch me. I’d attack first. Whatever dragon I turn into hates people.”

“I’m confused.”

Lance shrugged as he began pulling his clothing back on. “At least we made it over this obstacle, for the most part. We can make it to Cerulean before the sun goes down tonight. I for one am looking forwards to a hot meal and a decent night’s sleep.”

Red agreed. They continued down the mountain, and made it into the town of Cerulean just as the sun was setting. Finding an inn, they paid for dinner and rooms for the night.

The innkeeper was gracious, seeing their clothing, decided they were great lords, and yes, he did have two rooms for their Excellencies, but they were at opposite ends of the inn. That was unsafe.

They could be picked off singly. Somehow, Cardinal Oak had gotten wind of their plan to get the Queen’s Diamond Tags back, but how?

They could ponder it later. For now, they chose one of the rooms, barricaded the door, and took turns keeping watch. Neither of them slept well.

End Chapter

Completed 3/29/06

Hehehe, championshipping! *Squee*