And another chapter!
Disclaimer: 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

Six month time jump in this chapter

Chapter 6

So now Ash had a Mewtwo, who was quite unhappy with the situation, to put it mildly. Why _him_?

Why of all trainers did it have to be this boy?!

Oh… he was angry.

But he had been caught and now he was stuck. Great.

Ash reminded himself to thank Lance later. Wow! A mewtwo! This was so cool!
Lance on the other hand didn’t particularly care what happened as long as no one bothered him. Antisocial to the max!

Ash switched Mewtwo onto his team, took off Snorlax. Mewtwo grudgingly obeyed his orders due to the power of the Earth and Rising badges.

He wasn’t happy though.

Obviously. Still, what could he do?

Fight the badge’s control while you can… if you can’t, you’re basically screwed, right? Something or the other…

With a Mewtwo, it was rather easy to win Indigo League this year. He also managed to net some more pokemon for his collection.

That made Oak happy at least.

“So you’re here.” Lance said, looking up from his throne. * He relies a bit too much on that Mewtwo… might as well teach him a lesson in humility while I’m at this. *

Ash grinned. “Thank you!”

“For what?”

“All your help in Goldenrod.”

“Oh? That’s nothing.” Lance looked at Ash sideways. “I suppose you want a battle now?”

Ash nodded.

“If you defeat me, you will be the new Indigo League Champion. However, if you lose, you will have to wait another year to challenge the Elite Four.”

“I’m ready.”

“Very well… Gyarados, let’s go.”

“Pikachu, use Thunder!”

“Protect…”

Gyarados protected himself and then smashed a Hyper Beam right into the furry yellow mouse. Pikachu have terrible defense. Therefore, it was a quick one-way trip to fainting. And being the cocky trainer he was, Ash didn’t have any revives.

“Darn it! Charizard!”

“Rain Dance!”

This move might cost Gyarados the match, but it would set up the arena for his other dragons.

Gyarados understood as rain filled the area.

“Charizard, Flamethrower!”

“Idiot as always.” Lance said to himself. “Hydro Pump!”

There went the Charizard…

Ash gulped.

“Don’t think I’m a pushover…” Lance smiled.

“I guess I have no choice then. Mewtwo, go!”

“And relying on a legendary to win your battles won’t bring you anything…”

“Mewtwo, use Psychic!”

“Gyarados, Hyper Beam!”

Hyper Beam slammed into a surprised Mewtwo, Psychic took out Gyarados but…

Lance smiled. “Oh? Let’s try this then. Hakuryuu! Thunderwave!”

Thunderwave hit Mewtwo. Paralysis, speed down by 1/4, and… well, Mewtwo still got a hit on Dragonair, but not enough to faint.

“Now… Hakuryuu, come back. Ptera, Supersonic!”

Mewtwo was fully paralyzed! Mewtwo recovered from paralysis but hit itself in its confusion!

“Parafusion.” Lance smirked. “All right, let’s finish this! Ptera, Hyper Beam!”

Two Hyper Beams later, Mewtwo was out for the count.

“What else are you going to throw at me?”

“Sceptile, Leaf Blade!”

“Ptera, Rock Slide…”

Rock Slide hit first, but Sceptile evened the odds by taking Ptera out with Leaf Blade when it hit.

Lance nodded. “That’s more like it. Hakuryuu!”

Out came the Dragonair from earlier, and an Ice Beam into Sceptile went. Ash frowned and switched for Snorlax.

The HP tank…

Lance sprayed his Dragonair with a Hyper Potion, and then used Agility.

Ash blinked. “Snorlax, Body Slam!”

“Detect!”

Another foiling attack method…

“Now, Blizzard!”

Snorlax roared as ice shards sank into it from all directions. It used Rest to heal.

“Start charging.” Lance ordered Dragonair.

3 turns later, Snorlax awoke straight into another hyper beam. This one was 3x as powerful as normal, due to 3 turns of consecutive charging.

“Well, what now, Ash?”

Ash grimaced. His three best pokemon were already down…

“Blastoise, I choose you! Blizzard!”

Lance nodded. “Very well… Hakuryuu, Thunderbolt!”

Double KO this time… Dragonair was already tired from all the hyper beams. Ash groaned.

Down to one pokemon…

“Espeon, I choose you!”

“Dragonair…” Lance released his second one. “Hyper Beam.”

Espeon had been newly caught and was still weak. It was obvious Ash had relied on Mewtwo to win.

Pity.

“And I think that’s that.”

Ash was still in shock.

“Here’s a tip,” Lance said, as he escorted Ash out. “Relying on one strong pokemon is no way to be a Champion. Your entire team must be evenly raised and powerful.”

He was completely unprepared when Ash glomped him. “Please train me!”

“Let go!”

“Not unless you promise to train me.” Ash said.

“Let go…” Lance hissed.

End Chapter

Completed 10/1/04

Ash: I’m so… stupid. ;.;

Phantomness: You need training

Lance: Oh? So now it’s up to me?

Phantomness: Yep!